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Rogan Gibbons drove the baseline and scored on a reverse layup as time expired to give Gunn a come-from-behind 33-31 victory over Paly in front of a loud and enthusiastic crowd from both schools Saturday at Palo Alto.
According to Gunn coach Brandynn Williams, it was Gunn’s first win at Palo Alto since 1998, when he was a member of the Paly team.
“It’s always been a black hole for us,” Williams said of Gunn playing at Paly. “This win is big for the Gunn community and for the kids to have confidence. Sometimes, mentally, they have had the advantage on us.”
The game-winning shot by Gibbons was Gunn’s first lead of the game.
Palo Alto (13-7) led 29-24 with six minutes left. A 3-point shot by Ethan Kitch brought Gunn (15-6) within two and Sam Mulkey made a pair of free throws to tie with 1:28 left.
Paly called timeout with 45 seconds to go, worked the ball around, ran down the clock, but missed a shot attempt. A scrum under the basket resulted in a held ball and a Gunn possession with 21 seconds left.
“I was Bobby Knight in the huddle,” Williams said, with a laugh. “I called a double pick and roll. Rogan drove baseline but Lucas (Black) was there. Rogan kind of slithered under Black and made a great reverse layup.”
The winning play
Kitch led Gunn with 10 points, Gibbons had 9 and the basket the Titans will remember.
“Rogan played 32 minutes,” Williams said. “He’s been our leader all year, our heart and soul.”
Sebastian Chancellor led Paly with 8 points. Matt Corrigan scored 6.
“It was a beautiful game in terms of the crowd, a beautiful event, congratulations to Gunn.” Palo Alto coach Jeff LaMere said. “We’re incredibly disappointed with the loss, but we have a lot of basketball left to play. We have only two losses in league. We’ll practice hard on Monday and might have the opportunity to peak at the right time.”
Absolutely great job out of coach Williams and the Gunn boys , now throw some respect on that name ……. It was earned ????
Wow, props to Gunn Boys basketball, Coach Williams, Gibbons, and Kitch. Kitch actually has a dad who is also a great basketball coach. This is good for the rivalry, same as with the 9’ers and Rams, cause you don’t want one team to win and the other,to lose every single time. Life is trying your best especially after falling behind.
Impressive win by Gunn. Paly sports programs, outside of a couple, seem to be on the decline over the past few years. The AD there doesn’t seem to be too focused on any programs that don’t involve a football. Earl Hansen, who often got criticized for the same, supported all of the programs at Paly. Hansen made sure that the entire program was succeeding. That doesn’t seem to be the case with Nelson Gifford. I used to see Hansen at many different sporting events, basketball, baseball, softball and wrestling. Not sure if Gifford does, but I have yet to see him watching a game.
It’s probably pretty discouraging to the athletes (and their parents).