SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. — After scoring just 12 points in the first half, hampered by 5-for-21 shooting, the Piedmont Hills Pirates surged offensively for 20 points in the third quarter and fought off a comeback effort in the fourth for a 46-39 victory over the host El Camino Colts.
“We started knocking down those open threes that we were getting in the first half,” head coach Anthony Cuellar said. “We couldn’t shoot for anything in the first half. Nothing was falling and we just needed to stay sound.”
After struggling to knock down shots in the first two quarters, Alijah Washington scored 10 of his game-high 16 points in the third after Piedmont Hills (7-1) went into the half down by six and trailed 22-14 with 5:42 left in the third on a Javian Caston free throw.
“It’s a sign of his maturity and mental toughness,” Cuellar said of Washington’s third quarter. “It’s just his character. He’s a tough kid; he gets through everything.”
Washington got started by knocking down three straight free throws, then connected from beyond the arc and made two more at the line. Francisco Garcia drew a charge and Washington scored in the lane to tie the game, and the Pirates would go into the fourth up six after a pair of Jordan Martinez threes.
With point guard Antonio Roussanov hampered by foul trouble and limited to just three points, El Camino (2-7) fought back to tie the game in the fourth behind the steady hand of backup guard Dominic Egipto, who fed Thomas Haysbert and Puneet Kumar on back-to-back assists. Kumar would tie the game with just over five minutes left by scoring again, and Washington would trade baskets with Jovaughn Williams, who led the Colts with 10, to tie the game at 34.
The Pirates would take the lead for good with three-and-a-half minutes left as Jordan Scott, who was scoreless up until that point, hit a three and then scored again off a turnover. Williams would hit two free throws with 1:39 left to make it a one-possession game again, but he’d miss the front end of a 1-and-1 with 1:15 left and Martinez would hit his fourth and final 3-pointer with just under a minute left. While that shot appeared to be the dagger, a shot from the volleyball lines by EC’s Christian Viana would cut the lead to three again. The Colts had two fouls to give and finally sent Kameron Navalta to the line with 23 seconds left. He’d make both free throws, and Martinez would drain two from the charity stripe with 8.1 seconds left to seal the game after a pair of El Camino misses.
Navalta scored just five points but had a game-high 10 rebounds while Martinez scored 14 for the Pirates, who will return to action on Saturday night with a home game against Carmel (9-2). The Colts, who got eight points and eight rebounds from Viana, will be back in action next Friday with a home game against Balboa (2-9).
