The Gunn boys moved a step closer to winning the SCVAL El Camino Division basketball crown by holding off host Cupertino, 54-53, in overtime on Tuesday night.
The Titans (10-1, 17-3) clinched no worse than a tie for the title as second-place Saratoga concluded its regular season at 10-2 following a 60-45 win over Monta Vista.
Gunn can win the outright title on Friday by beating visiting Santa Clara. Tip off is 7 p.m.
The Titans nearly lost a shot at controlling their own destiny after the Pioneers rallied from a 28-23 halftime deficit and outscored Gunn in the third and fourth quarters. Cupertino tied the game on a 3-pointer that banked in to send the game to overtime.
With about nine seconds left in the extra period and Gunn holding a one-point lead, Gunn junior Alex Gil-Fernandez missed the front end of a one-and-one situation. The Pioneers brought the ball up and called time with about 3.8 seconds left, but Gunn pressured the Pioneers into an ill-fated 3-pointer that missed.
Gil-Fernandez led Gunn with 21 points, 18 coming in the first half, with Jeffrey Lee-Heidenreich adding 15 points and Chris Russell 12.
In the SCVAL De Anza Division, Palo Alto saw its hopes for a possible championship disappear in a 63-57 loss to visiting Los Gatos.
The Vikings (7-4, 17-6) needed to beat the Wildcats and have first-place Fremont lose to Los Altos, thus deadlocking the division race and setting up a showdown on Friday for the outright title.
Fremont (9-2, 17-5), however, topped Los Altos (56-50) and the Vikings came up short against Los Gatos.
Palo Alto also lost the 3-point battle with Los Gatos, which made 10 to the Vikings’ six. The Vikings shot just 34 percent overall (26 percent from 3-point range). Senior Kevin Mullin had 16 points with junior Oliver Svirsky and senior Johnny Rojahn combining for 21.
In the West Bay Athletic League, Menlo School held on to third place as 11 players scored in a 67-25 romp over host Crystal Springs. The Knights improved to 9-4 in league (15-7 overall) with one home game remaining against second-place Pinewood on Friday at 6:30 p.m.
Liam Dunn had 14 points and Jared Lucian finished with 13 for Menlo.
In Campbell, Priory was routed by host Harker, 84-54. The Panthers (5-8, 13-9) were led by Andy Isokpehi’s 16 points.
The King’s Academy at Eastside Prep game was not reported.
Girls
Castilleja unleashed a school-record 10 three- pointers to defeat Sacred Heart Prep, 54-46, in its regular-season home finale on Tuesday evening. The West Bay Athletic League (Foothill Division) rivals were tied at 23 at halftime, as 15 of Castilleja’s points came on treys from seniors Paige Vermeer and Maddie Tarr and sophomore Cate Alder.
Junior Ellie Chen hit a pair of threes and totaled 10 points in the third period as Castilleja (3-8, 11-12) pulled ahead by 38-31. SHP closed to 44-40 in the fourth quarter, but Chen added seven more points, sophomore Sam Gerber banked a crucial field goal and Castilleja held on for the win before a boisterous crowd.
Chen finished with 21 points (including a trio of threes), Alder scored 11 withn three treys, and Vermeer and Tarr each had a pair of treys and 10 points.
Sacred Heart Prep (2-9, 11-2), which has lost five straight, was led by juniors Ma’ata Makoni and Riley Hemm with 21 and 17 points, respectively.
In their regular-season finales on Friday, Castilleja travels to first-place Pinewood while SHP hosts Notre Dame-San Jose at 5 p.m.
Pinewood (10-0, 20-2) hosts third-place Menlo School (8-3, 16-7) on Wednesday at 8 p.m.