Northwood’s Amit Flint (right) and Andrew Valdez of Century battle for possession Friday night. Also defending is Isaiah Tapia of Godinez. (Photos: Fernando M. Donado, For OC Sports Zone)
Northwood’s boys basketball team held off a late comeback by Godinez to capture a 41-36 victory over the host Grizzlies Friday night in a consolation round game at the Grizzly Invitational.
To see the slide show, please click on the first photo
“It was a struggle, it’s been that way all year; we have good first halves and second half we kind of struggle a little bit, but a win is a win, we will take it, they’re hard to come by these days,” said Northwood Coach Tim O’Brien.
Northwood (2-4) led 27-12 at halftime had a 33-24 lead after three quarters before Godinez came back to tie the game 36-36 with 2:33 left on a 3-point basket by Andrew Valdez.
But Amit Flint hit a 3-point field goal with 1:30 remaining to give the Timberwolves a 39-36 lead. Godinez had a chance to tie the game on its final possession but a 3-point attempt by Valdez fell off the rim. Shandon Sharifi made two free throws with 1.5 seconds left to seal the victory.
Flint led Northwood with 25 points. Sharifi added eight points for the Timberwolves.
Godinez (3-3) battled to the end, led by Valdez who had 21 points. Roger Aquino added nine points for the Grizzlies.
“I thought our kids did a real good job of when we got behind of not just going for wild steals, we kind of played possession by possession,” said Godinez Coach Greg Coombs. “Even when we missed a shot, we went back and defended pretty good against a very good and bigger team than we are.
“I’m very pleased with our effort in the second half from a defensive standpoint and also not panicking on offense. We kept running our stuff and trying to get good shots and finally we got a few to fall and got us back into the ball game. But give them credit, they’re a very good team and when it was tied, they made a couple of buckets and to their credit, they deserved the victory and we’re happy with the way we improved during this week of our tournament.”
-Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone; timburt@ocsportszone.com
More Stories
Former Santa Margarita basketball standout Kyle Evans signed by UC Irvine
Rusty Van Cleave named new head boys basketball coach at Beckman
OC boys basketball teams battle in competitive Sunny Hills summer tournament