Boys Basketball: Las Lomas Falls in NCS Finals Nailbiter 58-51

Montgomery 58, Las Lomas 51

The Star: Treaven Duffy scored 22 for the Knights.

The Turning Point: With the game tied at 51 and 1:05 left in regulation, Alec Kobre sank a three-pointer for the Vikings that put Montgomery up for good.

The Quote: “The difference in the game was they made baskets under a minute and we didn’t,” Las Lomas coach Jeff Loving said.

What’s Next: The Knights will host a game with an opponent to be determined in the Northern California Championships next week.

Bottom Line: Las Lomas played point-to-point with Montgomery for nearly the duration, but the Vikings ability to score in the clutch won the Santa Rosa area high school the North Coast Section Division II boys basketball title.

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The boys basketball team and Montgomery of Santa Rosa played wire-to-wire for almost the full 32 minutes in Friday’s night North Coast Section Division II boys basketball championship.

The Vikings however, scored points in the final four minutes when the Knights shut down.

Las Lomas went on a scoreless drought for the final 3:47 of the fourth quarter after taking the lead for the first time since early in the third. Montgomery would tie the game a minute later, and sealed the NCS title with an Alec Kobre three-pointer with 1:05 left in the game, handing the Knights a 58-51 heartbreaking defeat at Haehl Pavilion at Santa Rosa Junior College.

“The difference in the game was they made baskets under a minute and we didn’t,” Las Lomas coach Jeff Loving said.

Other than brief runs, the Knights and Vikings played evenly throughout the championship game. No team managed to outscore the other by more than three points in any period, but streaking at the right time paid dividends.   

When Montgomery pushed their four-point lead at the start of the fourth to seven, Loving called time to talk things over, and the results of the break showed.

Out of the time out, Kevin Staffard sank a three to cut the deficit to four, and after a Christian Lawson steal, Treaven Duffy sank a three of his own, making it a one-point game.

Minutes later, Kenny Grimble grabbed an offensive rebound, and got it out to Lawson, who sank Las Lomas’ third-straight three to give the Knights a brief 51-49 lead.

But Las Lomas’ 9-0 run that lasted over five minutes would be the last points they would score in the game, as Vikings’ center Ben Freeland tied it at 51 with 2:47 left, and Kobre’s three in the last two minutes putting Montgomery up for good.

“We had our chances,” Loving said. “We had definitely had our chances. That’s the best team we’ve played in five years.”

Loving was somewhat disappointed that the Vikings’ campus is less than three miles away from what is supposed to be a neutral site.

“It would have been nice to have a neutral court in an NCS Championship but this place is two minutes from their campus,” he said.

Duffy led all scorers with 22 points. Grimble finished with 10.

Montgomery 58, Las Lomas 51

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F

Las Lomas

12

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9

51

Montgomery

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58

Individuals — (fg ftm-fta tp)

Las Lomas

Montgomery

Mendoza 4 2-4 12, Templeton 7 0-1 16, Kobre 3 7-7 15, Nimtz 1 3-4 5, Freeland 5 0-0 10. Totals 20 12-16 58.

3-point goals: Las Lomas - Lawson, Staffard, Duffy, Wood. Montgomery - Mendoza 2, Templeton 2, Kobre 2.

Fouled out: Las Lomas - Duffy.

Records: Las Lomas 25-4; Montgomery 27-2

NCS Championship, boys basketball, Division 2, 3/4/11

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