They had the chance to tie it but Gregori boys basketball fell to Sonora

The first possession was a turnover with under 20 seconds left.

The next possession was a 3-pointer missed by freshman Kyle Monk as time expired.

It was a night of “what-ifs” for Gregori (6-3) boys basketball on Thursday as they fell to Sonora (9-0), 65-63 in the second round of the Mark Gallo Invitational.

“We needed to get stops on defense,” Jaguars coach Ryan Green said. “We have been preaching defense all season.”

Gregori trailed by six points with 3:45 but tied the game at 63 with under a minute left before Wildcats junior Logan Sewell made two free-throws with :22 seconds left as Sonora regained the lead.

The next two possession are probably ones that Green would want back as the Jaguars turned the ball over without getting a shot up with less than 20 seconds left. After a missed free throw by Sonora, Green called a timeout with 1.8 seconds left.

Monk got the inbound and heaved the ball from half-court but the shot went wide right.

“They (Sonora) are a great team,” Green said. “There is a reason why they are undefeated.”

Sophomore center Carlos Hernandez had 22 points for Gregori while junior forward Julian Brown added 10.

Gregori will face Manteca on Friday in the consolation bracket in a rematch of the Dec. 5 contest won by the Buffaloes.