PHS Holds Off Muir, 69-66

The Mustangs missed an opportunity to close the gap at the last second.

Hamilton scores 25 as Mustangs miss last-second opportunity

By Christian Romo

Fans parked their cars on side streets, alleys, outdoor courts, virtually anywhere with open space outside of the gym at John Muir High School. Vendors sold teriyaki bowls in the hallway at halftime. A peddler entered in the middle of the game hawking hastily made rivalry shirts. Both sides filled the stands thirty minutes before tip-off, the hosts bringing their band and cheerleaders, and the visitors matching with cheerleaders and a student section. “It’s like an NBA game,” one fan pointed out. “Nah,” his friend said, “this is better than an NBA game.” One thing is for sure: when PHS and Muir get together, it is an event. And when both teams are good, it is can’t-miss basketball.

Both number twos matched up at point guard, junior Tiyon Martin for the Mustangs, and junior Darius Brown for the Bulldogs. The zeros faced each other in the frontcourt, junior Bryce Hamilton in black and red, and junior Hunter Woods in white and blue. As the top two teams in the Pacific League, Muir and PHS played with extra pressure. With a win, the Bulldogs would have controlled their own fate in the league standings, while a victory for the Mustangs would have given them a shot at their first league title since 2001.

Muir looked on their way in the first quarter, where the Mustangs shot out to a comfortable lead thanks to hot shooting from Woods and Simaine Stewart Jr. (3). The two juniors combined to shoot 5 of 5 from three-point range in the quarter, finishing their streak on a four-point play from Woods that had him skipping towards half court and sticking his tongue out at his own bench. The Mustangs shot 8-15 overall in the quarter, highlighted by Woods’s 14 points, on their way to a 24-15 lead at the end of the first. For the Bulldogs, whose goal as a team is to limit their opponents to single-digit quarters, the first eight minutes were a disaster.

And then Hamilton, limited to 1 of 4 shooting in the first quarter, began the second with three baskets, cutting the Muir lead to four. Two straight blocks from junior Lazarus Morris (1) brought the PHS crowd back into the game, while turnovers forced by Brown and sophomore Darius Mason (3) led to transition points. Brown finished the half with a three-pointer off a steal as time expired, bringing the Bulldogs within one point at halftime.

It was the same story in the third quarter: Bulldog defense leading to transition offense, highlighted by Hamilton’s two blocks and two steals. Muir suddenly shot poorly from distance, going 2-12 from three the rest of the game after starting 6-8 in the first quarter, and were limited to eight points in the third after scoring only ten in the second. Players from both sides started to tire, resting their hands on their heads and committing careless fouls on routine shots. But the Bulldog defense held strong, and at the end of three, PHS flipped a ten-point deficit into an eight-point lead, up 50-42 with eight minutes to play.

After giving up transition points in the second and third quarters, the Mustangs restricted the Bulldogs from easy buckets in the fourth, forcing PHS to win the game at the free-throw line. Brown and Hamilton went 3-4 from the line, while junior Jesse Watkins (20) calmly sank his four free throws in the quarter. PHS scored 12 of their 20 fourth quarter points from the free-throw line, thwarting Muir’s defensive strategy and remaining undefeated in league play.

But it almost worked for the Mustangs. A three-point play from Martin brought them within four with 2:46 left in the game, while a Stewart three-pointer kept them alive with 28 seconds left. A missed free-throw from Hamilton led to a transition layup from Martin, and Martin’s steal on the inbounds gave Muir the ball down by two with one last chance. Martin fell on the ball and scrambled a pass to Woods, who found a shot at the baseline, but missed as time expired to give the Bulldogs the win.

Martin finished with 18 points, ten in the fourth quarter, adding four assists and one dramatic steal. Woods led the team with 20 points and seven rebounds, while senior Eric Hollins got 13 points and seven rebounds, scoring eight of his team’s 24 fourth-quarter points.

But the star of the game was Hamilton, who put up 25 points on 9-16 shooting, and grabbed seven rebounds while forcing two blocks and two steals on defense. Brown had a relatively poor shooting night (5 of 17), but finished with 18 points while jump-starting his team’s fast-break offense. Mason played effectively on the inside, scoring 13 points and pulling six rebounds, while junior Kalonji West (23) pulled five rebounds of his own.

Muir needs help from the rest of the league for a shot at dethroning PHS this season. But the Mustangs will have another shot to repeat what they accomplished last year: defeating their rival in their season finale. But it will not be as easy this time, as the rematch on Thursday, Feb. 9 will take place on the other side of the city.

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