Knights knock down Torrey in double OT
- Updated: December 23, 2018
2018 EAST COUNTY PREP BASKETBALL
EastCountySports.com staff report
SAN DIEGO – The Foothills Christian Knights won the biggest game of the San Diego County prep boys basketball season on Saturday night.
The Knights also won the best and most exciting game of the season, defeating host Torrey Pines, 90-89, in double overtime at the MaxPreps Holiday Classic.
The Knights came into the contest ranked fourth in the county while the Falcons were second in the most recent media poll. That’s likely to change come Monday.
Foothills Christian trailed late in both regulation and overtime but were poised and cool in the fire of the Falcons’ home gym, especially in the extra sessions.
The Falcons grabbed an early lead and appeared to be comfortable in the lead, ahead 20-11 after one period.
But the Knights’ 8-0 two minutes into the second was keyed by five points from YASSINE GHARRAM.
Torrey Pines, however, re-established control and took a 35-27 lead at the intermission.
In the third quarter, the Knights clawed to within 44-42.
Sophomore DERRIEN CARTER-HOLLINGER had a three-pointer that brought the Knights to within 50-49 at the end of the period.
Montana-bound senior D.J. CARTER-HOLLINGER had a dunk that brought FCHS to within 64-60.
The final two minutes featured back-and-forth possession with the game in the balance.
Foothills Christian tied the game on a pair of free throws by Derrien Carter-Hollinger with 22 seconds left.
After a Torrey miss, D.J. Carter-Hollinger found an opening on a break attempt but was contacted hard by a defender on the drive sending him to the ground.
The shot attempt was no good and the game went into overtime.
The Falcons built a 76-72 lead but Foothills freshman JADEN LEBEL canned a three-pointer to make it a one-point game with 15.6 seconds remaining.
The Knights took the lead, 78-76, on a three-pointer by JAREN NAFARRETE with 4.7 seconds left.
However, the Falcons would force a second overtime when star Bryce Pope tied the game with a drive off the glass.
It was 82-80 Torrey with 2:35 to go in the second overtime, but moments later, Nafarrete hit a three-pointer for the lead.
The Falcons regained the lead on a pair of free throws, but Gharram came back down for a bucket and the one-point edge, 85-84.
The Knights made a stop, however, with the lead, and following a long miss, D.J. Carter-Hollinger got inside of a pair of Falcons for the offensive board and putback while being fouled. He converted the three-point play.
Pope made another basket to cut the Knights’ lead to 88-86.
The Knights converted a pair of free throws, but Michael Pope canned a deep three-pointer for the final margin.
FCHS improved to 7-2, while the Falcons fell to 10-3.
