In the first 84 seconds of the fourth quarter, the Mountain View High boys basketball team’s lead over host Los Altos dwindled from 10 points to one. The Spartans countered with a 9-0 run of their own, however, and held on for a 54-49 victory Tuesday night (Feb. 8).
“(The Eagles) made that run because they got a couple open 3s,” said guard Joey Peir, who led Mountain View with 14 points. “So, we just closed out a little harder on them. We turned up the intensity a little bit at the end of the fourth quarter, and I think we got the stuff we needed to close out the game.”
After Los Altos buried that barrage of 3s – coming from Andrew Reilly, Shawn Toney and Jerwayne Williams Jr. – it went scoreless for 5:25.
“We got into a little rut and let that moment slip away a little bit,” Eagles coach Trevor Naas said. “Credit to Mountain View for bouncing right back and creating that separation again.”
Using their superior size and depth, the Spartans regained control of a game in which they never trailed.
Mountain View’s scoring spurt started with center Jack Pillsbury converting inside, despite getting fouled, and making the ensuing free throw to push the lead to 40-36. Ryan Davenport drained a pullup jumper from midrange, Pillsbury scored from the low post again and Patrick Kane hit a pair of free throws to make it 46-36 with 1:19 left. Kane and Pillsbury totaled 12 and 11 points, respectively.
“We stuck with the game plan, and we bent but didn’t break,” Spartans coach Kevin Mack said. “That’s a great sign for us – that we can fight through a stretch like that.”
The Eagles still had some fight in them as well. They scored 13 points – seven by Reilly – in the final 1:10, but the Spartans sank eight of their 10 free throws in that span to keep their rivals at a safe distance.
Reilly finished with 20 points to pace Los Altos, and teammate Jake Skaggs had 11.
The win moved Mountain View into first place in the SCVAL De Anza Division at 9-2, just ahead of Los Altos (8-2). If the Spartans win Friday’s home game against Cupertino, they clinch at least a share of the league title. In that scenario, the Eagles would need to beat host Milpitas Friday and visiting Palo Alto Tuesday to finish as co-champs. Mountain View would then earn the higher seed in the playoffs because it beat Los Altos twice this season.
