Flurry of FTs help San Marin edge Casa in OT

A flurry of free throws allowed San Marin to edge the Casa Grande boys basketball team, 76-75, in overtime.|

Casa Grande could not overcome a flurry of free throws in overtime by the San Marin Mustangs, and the Gauchos dropped a 76-75 thriller in Novato on Tuesday night. It was a tough loss for coach Jake Lee and his determined club in their season opener as they outscored the hosts from the floor, only to succumb to 10 charity tosses in the extra period alone.

San Marin did not register a field goal down the stretch and the Mustangs trailed 75-74 with only seconds remaining. A seemingly clean block by Nate Busse of the Gauchos got a very late whistle, and two more free throws by center Christian Petersen ended things with only 1.5 seconds left on the clock.

A last-second heave bounced off the backboard at the far end of the floor and the Mustangs managed to steal one. If there was a question on the call on the block, it had to be the delay which silenced a premature celebration on the part of the Gauchos.

Petersen calmly drained both free throws to send the standing Mustang students into a frenzy.

Prior to the game, both squads wore the same designed T-shirt and it was announced that the contest would be the first Pitti-Forni Basketball Classic in honor of deceased coaches Craig Pitti and James Forni, who both died of cancer very early in their lives. It would take a great deal of imagination for the two schools to create a more fitting contest to honor their fallen former coaches. Proceeds were ticketed to be shared with the Jimmy V Foundation.

Lee could not have managed the game much better on the bench for the Gauchos, but a couple of missed free-throw chances and a failed timeout call by the hustling Josh Jovick was ruled a travel to make things more challenging. Jovick clearly called time out, but was judged to be twisting on the floor and a walk was called.

Casa alternated defenses in the late going and it slowed down San Marin enough for the Gauchos to crawl back from a 32-24 halftime deficit.

Jovick had a solid game for Casa Grande with 16 points and nine rebounds to help keep the Gauchos in the hunt. A lay-up with seconds remaining on a dish from Garrett Siebels moved the game into the extra period.

Guard Ian Cerruti finished with 20 points in the first three periods of play. Casa jumped to an early 11-8 lead on a couple of shots from distance by the senior guard.

It’s too early in the season to overstate what might be ahead for Casa, but the offense displayed by hot shooting guard Siebels had to give them long-range hope. Siebels got into a scoring zone, and he seemed to have the answer for every Mustang attempt to pull away with some smooth lefty bombs from outside.

Siebels had only five points at halftime, but he exploded for four shots from behind the arc to draw his team back into the game. When the Mustangs attempted to close out, the 6-foot-1 junior went around them as if the San Marin defenders were nailed to the floor.

His clutch 2-pointer and a couple of free throws appeared to give the Gauchos the final lead until the fateful last-second whistle. Siebels finished with 31 points.

San Marin was no cupcake opener for the Gauchos. The Mustangs averaged 21 wins over the past three seasons and they featured some solid play from first-year players Tyson Geraci and 6-3 forward Shaun Samuel. Geraci had 14 points, while Samuel added 10 along with 11 rebounds. Petersen and Dexter Geraci also finished with double figures.

In the preliminary game, the Gauchos pressed themselves back into the game after falling behind by 12 points, but they let it get away down the stretch to lose 67-62. Too many dribble penetration drives by the Mustangs turned the game in their favor.

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