Narbonne Edges Banning; Coach Blames Officiating

Bob Hoppes breathed a sigh of relief. Gary Cain breathed fire.

Those were the reactions of the two coaches Wednesday after Narbonne High rallied in the fourth quarter for a 53-50 victory over visiting Banning in a Pacific League basketball game.

Narbonne’s Hoppes was relieved because the Gauchos won for the first time in nearly a month, ending a five-game losing streak.

Banning’s Cain was livid at the officials, whom he criticized for missing what he considered several Narbonne fouls in the fourth quarter when Banning lost a seven-point lead and committed 12 turnovers.

“We were in control, then the officials took the game away,” Cain said. “We didn’t get a chance to get the ball across court. The officials kept us down on one end. (Narbonne) was slapping us all over the place, but we never got any calls. I didn’t understand that at all.”

Banning took a 41-34 lead into the fourth quarter, but it didn’t last long as Narbonne forced turnover after turnover with its full-court press and tied the game, 42-42, with 4:04 left on a three-point play by guard Gabriel Maciel after he stole an inbounds pass.

From there, Narbonne scored three unanswered baskets, all following steals, to extend its lead to 48-42 with 2:20 remaining. Banning never recovered.

The Gauchos improved to 12-8 overall and 1-5 in league play. Banning fell to 10-9 and 2-4.

“We made our share of mistakes,” Cain said, “but Narbonne doesn’t even get back in the game if the officials call it evenly and fairly.”

Cain pointed to the disparity of free throws in the fourth quarter. While Narbonne made seven of 18 foul shots, Banning was six of eight.

“We’re the only team that fouls?” he asked.

Banning went nearly the entire fourth quarter without a field goal. Guard Louis Guillermo finally hit a three-point shot that pulled the Pilots within 51-50 with eight seconds left.

But, after calling a timeout, Narbonne’s Vijay Mani threw a baseball pass to forward Major Goulsby, who clinched the game on a layup as time expired.

Guard D’Mitri Rideout led a balanced Narbonne attack with 11 points while Goulsby added 10. It was the Gauchos’ first win since defeating Leuzinger in the championship game of the Torrance Holiday Tournament on Dec. 29.

“This was probably our most important game,” Hoppes said. “It’s been a long dry spell. Hopefully this will help turn things around.”

Forward Edward Brownlee led Banning with 14 points and guard Torrey Tobias added 13. Forward Jabari Anderson, the Pilots’ leading scorer on the year, was held to five.

Manual Arts 75, Westchester 43--Playing without guard Damian Wilson, the Comets proved no match for powerful Manual Arts in a Metro League game at Westchester.

Wilson, Westchester’s top player and leading scorer, was benched for being tardy to a class Tuesday. It marked the third time this season that Wilson has missed a game because of disciplinary reasons.

Asked what Westchester lacked without Wilson, Manual Arts Coach Randolph Simpson replied, “Leadership, without a doubt. They looked lost.”

Manual Arts (17-3 overall, 6-0 in league play) was never threatened after opening a 21-7 lead in the first quarter.

Westchester, which got 17 points from forward Mike Mitchell, fell to 13-8 and 4-2.

Carson 69, San Pedro 64--Guard Bobby Kelly scored nine of his 17 points in the fourth quarter to help the Colts pull away for a Pacific League win at San Pedro.

Carson fell behind the underdog Pirates, 15-10, in the first quarter and struggled most of the way before posting its fifth league win in six games. The Colts are 15-7 overall.

Forward Nkosi Littleton also scored 17 points for Carson. Guard Michael Ross, in a fine all-around performance, had nine points, eight assists and seven rebounds.

San Pedro (8-10, 0-6) was led by guard Devay Reese with a game-high 27 points. The Pirates made only 15 of 30 free-throw attempts.