Gregori boys basketball clinches second straight CCAL title with win over Enochs
In its biggest game of the season, the Gregori boys basketball team went back to its old ways and saw its lead nearly evaporate.
In the fourth quarter of the de facto Central California Athletic League championship against Enochs on Thursday, the Jaguars saw their double-digit lead to shrink to one with a little under four minutes remaining.
“We couldn’t go 1-on-1 (on offense),” Jaguars coach Ryan Green said. “I challenged the team to trust each other and share the ball.”
Led by senior Julian Brown, the Jaguars went on a 12-0 run to give themselves a comfortable lead as Brown scored seven of the teams’ first nine points coming out of the timeout.
Gregori (9-1, 24-4) ended the game on a 19-5 run to beat Enochs, 72-57, and win its second straight league title.
Brown had a game-high 24 points and added five rebounds, getting most of points near the basket behind a strong offensive post-game.
“He’s incredible,” Green said. “He has all the tools and our goal was to put them together this year.”
Behind two supportive fan bases, the game was a foul fest early on as the Eagles (7-3, 14-13) had seven fouls in the first four minutes and players on both teams expressed frustration with the tightly called game.
Enochs led 12-10 after the first quarter and 26-25 at halftime before Gregori took the lead until the third behind Brown, senior Luke McClellan (13 points), and junior Carlos Hernandez (18 points and 11 rebounds).
The Jaguars led by 10 after the third but the Eagles started the fourth on a 9-0 run. Senior Daniel Gallego had seven of the nine points for Enochs. Gallego and senior Miles Drew each had 11 points for the Eagles.
After the win, Gregori coaches and players celebrated by cutting down a net.
Playoff brackets will be released on Saturday afternoon.
“Hopefully, we host a playoff game,” Green said. “We have a lot of quality of wins.”
This story was originally published February 13, 2020 at 10:04 PM.
