There were fewer than two seconds remaining when Yuma High’s Giovanni Grant saved the game for the second time.
With the Criminals ahead by a point, Kofa point guard Chuy Ortiz raced into the front court and barreled into Grant, who was firmly planted about 10 feet in front of the basket.
The result was an offensive foul on Ortiz, and Yuma would go on to win, 58-56, Thursday night at Kofa High, snapping an eight-game losing streak and knocking off their rivals in one fell swoop.
Two possessions earlier, Grant, making the third varsity appearance of his career, put back an Isaac Collins miss to break a 54-all tie. The layup was the junior’s first field goal at the varsity level and just his fourth points of the season.
Kofa quickly answered with a running layup by Ortiz, but Yuma point guard Erick Flores drew a foul on the ensuing possession and made the go-ahead free throw with 5.5 seconds to go. After a timeout, Ortiz dribbled the length of the floor before colliding with Grant, effectively ending the game.
“Gio’s been working hard,” Yuma head coach Tyler Swartzendruber said. “He’s been doing some good things lately.”
Flores scored a team season-high 18 points on 5-of-5 from the field and 8-for-13 from the foul line, including going 2-for-4 in the final five seconds to help put the game away. He added nine rebounds, three assists and two steals, while forward Robert Paige scored a career-high 17 points. Damian Miller had a game-high 11 rebounds.
Ortiz, Kofa’s leading scorer, was held to just 6-for-18 from the field on a night when Kofa (3-7) missed 47 of its 63 shots overall. Ortiz finished with a game-high 19 points, including a dozen in the fourth quarter when the Kings made a furious rally.
Kofa trailed by as many as 14 points in the second half, but Ortiz and forward Jordan Rojano helped them ultimately even the score at 43. Rojano scored 10 of his 13 points in the third quarter.
But even after Yuma (2-10) allowed Kofa back in it, the Criminals found a way to answer, whether it was a parade of free throws from Flores, a timely layup from Paige, or Grant’s late-game heroics.
IN OTHER GAMES
Gila Ridge 48, San Luis 45: Junior forward Johnny Kay scored a team-high 14 points with eight rebounds as the Hawks (4-5) beat visiting San Luis (3-7) for the third time this season and 24th time in the past 25 meetings. Thursday night at Gila Ridge, though, was unlike most of their previous matchups.
The Hawks took a 12-point lead into halftime, but the Sidewinders used an extended 19-7 run to tie the game midway through the fourth quarter. Gila Ridge earned the lead back and never trailed in the second half despite the efforts of Gabriel Ponce, who nearly converted a half-court heave to tie the game at the fourth-quarter buzzer.
Brawley 88, Cibola 71: A high-scoring second quarter broke things open for the Wildcats (10-3) in Thursday night’s win at home. Brawley outscored Cibola, 36-21, in before halftime, which proved to be the difference in a game otherwise played virtually even. Senior Isaiah Bustamante scored a season-high 28 points for Brawley, going 11-for-18 from the field. The loss was the third in a row for Cibola and drops them to 5-5 on the season.
