PLACENTIA — An underhanded, reverse layup by Evan Nam with 3.1 seconds remaining in the game lifted El Dorado to a 53-52 victory over La Habra in the championship game of the Gary Raya Classic on Saturday at El Dorado High School.
The Golden Hawks (9-1), who are ranked No. 16 in Orange County, won the tournament for the second consecutive year. They reached this year’s championship game with a 59-55 victory in overtime over No.20 Woodbridge on Thursday.
Acen Jimenez hit a pair of free throws with 13.2 seconds remaining to give the No. 8 Highlanders (8-2) a 52-51 lead, setting the stage for Nam’s game-winning shot.
“Two starters called me this morning and said they had the flu,” El Dorado coach Ryan Mounce said. “So, just the resilience of our team is probably the biggest, overwhelming feeling. (Nam) is one of our best players. He’s very skilled. We just try to let our kids make plays and they did. At the end of the day, I didn’t want to get in the way. I just let my kids play basketball.”
Jimenez scored a game-high 29 points and established a school record for career points with 1,776 in the process and a majority of the season still remaining.
The Dartmouth commit and All-Orange County first team honoree bested the old mark of 1,768 set by 2009 La Habra graduate Jordan Sachs.
“I would have never imagined breaking an all-time school record,” Jimenez said. “I want to praise God but I’m just so thankful for my teammates as well. They’re putting me in position to score all these points. But all these four years, man, it’s been a heck of a journey.”
The contest was tight for all four quarters, with 18 lead changes and 11 tied scores.
Jimenez hit a midrange jumper with a second left in the third quarter to give the Highlanders a 45-43 lead.
La Habra led, 50-48, when Elias Rodarte hit a three-pointer to put the Golden Hawks back up by a point with 25 seconds remaining.
Then came Jimenez’s free throws, followed by the game winning shot.
The Highlanders had a two-point lead with a chance to go up by two scores on three possessions over the final four minutes but weren’t able to convert that big shot.
“They’re playing great ball,” La Habra coach Aaron Riekenberg said of the Golden Hawks. “Credit to them. It was a great environment early in the year, a great opportunity for our guys to be tested. I think we’ll look back on a lot of possessions that we wasted and didn’t play our brand of basketball. And that will come back to haunt you in a tight game like this.”