ALBANY, CA - The Cougar Gym was filled Friday night for the classic Albany versus El Cerrito rivalry. In the first meeting between the schools in boys basketball, it was the visiting Gauchos pulling out the 43-40 victory.
Albany came in 41-29-7 against El Cerrito since 2004 in all sports, but they had never faced off in men’s basketball. This game would prove to be a fight for the first rivalry win.
Both teams went head to head in the fourth, trying to edge out the win. Mireri produced a fourth quarter surge, dropping nine of his 17 points as the game came down to the wire.
With 13.5 seconds left, Tre Gray was able to draw a charge for El Cerrito, giving him two free throws to put the Gauchos ahead 41-40. Albany was unable to get a shot off in the remaining seconds of the game, and fouled with .8 seconds left to give El Cerrito the 43-40 win.
The game was fast paced and physical all night. El Cerrito played zone defense forcing Albany to constantly move the ball around, but some sloppy passing led to an early Gaucho lead off turnovers. El Cerrito also used their full court press for most of the game, helping them to force a few extra turnovers as well. With Albany in some foul trouble at the end of the first half, El Cerrito was able to build a 22-15 lead.
After a slow first half, Albany came into the third quarter with some fire. Sophomore Avri Finch was able to isolate himself in the El Cerrito zone to score in the post with some fancy footwork, and seniors Jayson Kamuri and Jaime Banegas tacked on threes to get Albany right back in it. The key sparkplug for the Cougar offense in the second half was senior Eric Mireri who stepped up to make some key plays.
Through the physical Gaucho defense, he showed heart and hustle as he continuously stuck with each play, pulling down offensive rebounds and scoring second chance points. Mireri, who ended the game with 17 pts, traded buckets the entire second half with Gray, El Cerrito’s leading scorer who ended the game with 13.
“It was a very physically demanding game," said Kamuri. "We kept fighting the whole game. Next time there will be a different outcome.”
Albany (13-7, 1-2 TCAL-Rock) hosts Salesian in another league matchup on Wednesday, while El Cerrito (8-11, 1-2), will travel to Rocklin on Saturday to face off against Whitney High School.
