With the support of a tumultuous student section, the heart of their seniors to go out strong in their last home game, and the clutch play of Derek Fox and Buddy Ames, the Milpitas Trojans (12-13) tamed the feisty Evergreen Valley Cougars (12-12), 73-72, in the final seconds of an overtime battle to advance to the second round of the CCS Division I playoffs Tuesday night. Milpitas next travels to Oak Grove (12-12) Thursday night (7 pm) to take on the sixth-seeded Eagles.
The Trojans rallied in the fourth quarter tying the game at 67-67 heading into overtime, when eventually foul trouble caught up to the Cougars. Senior Nick Rodriguez and junior Marcus Rita provided the offensive spark that Milpitas needed by coming off the bench to play off each other and shoot 8-of-11 from the 3-point line. Ames struggled in the first half, but found his scoring touch with 15 points in the second half and overtime. He finished shooting 9-of-10 from the free throw line. Fox sent Evergreen home with the game-winning free throw, ending with 11 points.
The final minutes of the fourth quarter comprised a sequence of crazy possessions. After a Rodriguez turnover, Evergreen’s Eric Cordova nailed a trey. But after Evergreen sophomore Shane Suttles fouled out at the 2:08 mark, Milpitas took its first lead at 65-64. Playing boldly under the rim throughout the game, Jeric Llanes hit a go-ahead 3 with 1:06 left, giving Evergreen the lead. A clumsy foul in the final seconds allowed Ames to tie the game and give Milpitas one more shot in overtime.
Suttles’s post presence was clearly needed in the fourth as Ames and Fox took control. Anthony Tran hit another 3 to tie the game at 72-72, but Fox took advantage of his smaller matchup. Fox finally sent Evergreen home with the game-winning free throw, ending with 11 points.
Exasperated and out of breath, Fox was thankful for hitting the free throw: “I thank God and Jeremy Lin for inspiring me.”
Rodriguez, whose starting spot was taken by a freshman last night, had other thoughts about his coach’s decision.
“I wanted to prove him wrong, let him know that I could still ball and that he made a mistake not playing me," said Rodriguez. "It’s my senior year, you don’t want to go out like that in your last game.”
Rodriguez, a spot-on shooter for Milpitas, was surprised at how Evergreen answered back so many of his 3s.
“It was disappointing how they kept answering it," said Rodriguez. "But it’s basketball. You rally back by staying in the game.”
For Evergreen, Suttles had an efficient low-post game with 14 points and eight rebounds before fouling out. Llanes, a senior point guard, did everything he could for his team, scoring 15 points, grabbing three rebounds and two steals and dishing out six assists.
Four of the five Milpitas starters scored in the first quarter, but Llanes filled the stat sheet to keep the Cougars in the lead. Fox had to shoot four 3-pointers in the first because Milpitas could not find its offense. On the other hand, Evergreen juniors Advit Raghavan and Elias Habash each came off the bench and each made a triple.
While Rodriguez and Rita were sparking the Milpitas attack, Ames struggled in the first half, turning the ball over three times and picking up two quick fouls. Raghavan caught up to Ames on what looked like a breakaway dunk and viciously blocked him at the rim.
Suttles had eight of his 14 points in the second quarter. Ames, Fox, and West Hankins could not contain the sophomore from grabbing three strong rebounds of his eight total. In the final seconds of the half, Raghavan and Llanes each hit a 3 to answer Milpitas’ 3s, keeping the lead at 39-33 heading to the locker room.
Ames, along with the rest of his seniors, had no desire to end their senior campaigns with a loss at home. Milpitas switched to a 2-3 defense to slow down Suttles. Ames found his scoring touch with 15 points in the second half and overtime, ending the game shooting 9-of-10 from the free-throw line.
Tran had six of his nine points in the third quarter to once again quell a Milpitas comeback, then the 5-foot-7 Llanes had a beautiful up-and-under layup over the 6-foot-5 Hankins to give all the momentum to Evergreen heading to the fourth.
