League-leading Anaheim survives late comeback by Orange for thrilling victory

AJ Rodriguez (left) and Aydan Ibarra led Anaheim to a victory Tuesday night. (PHOTO: Tom Connolly, For OC Sports Zone).

Anaheim High School’s boys basketball team remained undefeated in Grove League play, but needed a late rally to hold off a furious comeback from Orange to pull off a 54-51 victory Tuesday night at Anaheim.

Anaheim guard AJ Rodriguez led all scorers with 20 points. Rodriguez and Aydan Ibarra combined to make four free throws in the final 33 seconds to help the Colonists remain in sole possession of first place in league with three league games remaining.

After Anaheim (10-11, 5-0) took a 26-20 halftime lead, the Colonists outscored the Panthers 19-9 in the third quarter to build a 45-31 edge and appeared to be on the verge of a blowout.

However, Orange (3-21, 2-3) stormed back and went on an 18-2 run to start the fourth quarter.

Ivan Kim’s 3-pointer tied the score at 47-47 and moments later Mark Hernandez-Chino outbattled two Anaheim defenders for an offensive rebound and scored to give the Panthers a 49-47 lead, their first lead of the game, with 3:14 to play.

Rodriguez’s bucket with 1:34 remaining propelled the Colonists back into the lead at 50-49. Orange’s junior guard Sebastian Nunez stole the ball and went in for a basket and was fouled. He missed the free throw, but the Panthers led 51-50 with 49 seconds to play. 

Orange had several opportunities to capitalize late but they missed five free throws in final 63 seconds of the game. Ibarra’s two free throws gave the Colonists a 52-51 lead with 33 seconds left.

Orange missed a pair of free throws with seven seconds to play. Rodriguez then secured the win by knocking down two free throws to give Anaheim a 54-51 victory.

“I went to the line like it was practice; I wasn’t nervous,” said Rodriguez, who drilled four 3-pointers in the game.

Ibarra tried to remain calm in the final seconds at the free throw line.

“I wasn’t nervous at the line; we kept pushing and kept our head in the game and kept fighting,” said Ibarra, who scored 11 points.

Hernandez-Chino sparked the Panthers comeback in the fourth quarter with his inspired play at both ends of the floor.

“I know our record doesn’t show it, but we didn’t fold,” said Hernandez-Chino, who scored 12 points. “I think our comeback shows the character and the strength of our team. When we got down, we could have gone soft, but we kept battling. I’m proud of our guys.”

Anaheim started quickly scoring on its first six possessions and a full court press forced four Orange turnovers. Ibarra’s basket gave the Colonists a 10-0 lead at the 4:54 mark of the opening quarter. Anaheim led 18-9 after one quarter.

The Panthers rallied in the second quarter behind the play of Kim, Hernandez-Chino and Vic Ceja and cut the lead to 26-22 at halftime.

Andrew Cervantes and Ibarra helped spark a 9-1 run at the end of the third quarter that lifted the Colonists to a 45-31 lead and set the stage for a wild finish.

“Orange fought hard; they didn’t quit,” said Anaheim Coach Alfonso Rodriguez. “Every game in this league is a tough. We know it’s a game of runs and we continued to press, and we finished the game.”

Despite the loss, Panthers Coach Jacob Rhodes said his team earned valuable experience..

“Our team has never quit; they played tough defense,” said Rhodes. “A lot of teams would fold when they get down by double digits, but these guys fight through thick and thin. We may have gotten a little tight at the end, but it’s excellent experience and we’ll learn from it.”

Ceja had three 3-pointers and led Orange with 17 points. Kim added 10 points for the Panthers.