Down by three with 0.1 seconds left in the fourth quarter of Tuesday’s rivalry battle, Los Altos guard Manu Shankar calmly walked to the free throw line with the game in the balance.
An 11-4 Eagles run in the final two minutes and a foul on Shankar while taking a corner three gave the senior guard a pressure-filled opportunity on Mountain View’s home court to send it to overtime down 58-55.
“I was locked in,” Shankar said. “As soon as I got fouled on that three, I knew that we were three points down, and I had to make those three free throws for us to have a chance at winning.”
Taking a deep breath and going through his normal routine for free throws while the crowd rattled the gym bleachers, Shankar cooly hit all three to tie the game and send it to overtime, where the Eagles got past the Spartans 65-61.
While a game-tying shot usually occurs quickly, his three shots gave him plenty of time to think, particularly with Mountain View calling two timeouts in between his shots.
Los Altos head coach James Reilly told jokes to Shankar during the two timeouts, a starter who provides three-point shooting, defense and key free throws. Reilly told Shankar to have fun and was confident Shankar would make them based on body language.
“I told them before the game that playing Mountain View is an awesome experience,” Reilly said. “It’s a gift; just live it, and that’s what he did. Manu works really hard. He gets a lot out of his physical ability, so he deserves it, but it’s all him.”
“He was just like, go out there and make them, and that’s all I needed to hear,” Shankar said of Reilly.
His teammates were positive in the huddle and told Shankar he had to make the last one after getting the first two, with forward Dan Bita confident Shankar could handle the stressful situation of needing to score.
“If there’s anybody on the team I want doing it, it’s Manu, and then he made it,” said Bita, a senior who finished with 12 points on four three-pointers, including one in overtime to give Los Altos the lead.
Following Shankar’s final free throw, he and his teammates roared and yelled for the entire gym to hear.
“I just let everything loose,” Shankar said. “I didn’t have to be locked in anymore. I was in my huddle hyping up my teammates, and they were hyping me up, too, so it just felt super awesome. I still had in the back of my mind, we still have to finish this out and get the win, but we had all the momentum, so that obviously helped us.”
The Eagles (9-6) still needed overtime to overcome the Spartans (10-5), with Los Altos outscoring Mountain View 7-3. Bita led all scorers in overtime with four points as the Eagles pulled away, and Mountain View couldn’t score in the last two minutes.
“When you make three free throws with a tenth of a second to go, you do have momentum. There is no doubt about that,” Reilly said.
Shankar finished with 17 points and had the tough assignment of guarding point guard Jayden Minor, one of Mountain View’s best players. Reilly noted Shankar is a good shooter and works at practice to ensure he consistently hits shots.
“He’s diligent, he works,” Reilly said of Shankar. “He’s there every day.”
The fourth-quarter comeback to reach overtime began with Los Altos down 54-47 with two minutes left. Eagles forward Christian Saric hit a corner three with a minute left, followed by a Shankar layup to make it 56-52. Saric, who led all scorers with 19 points, delivered a bucket and free throw to make it 56-55 until a Mountain View layup made it 58-55. With just 2.4 seconds on the clock, the Eagles ran a play to get Saric and Shankar open at the three-point line, with Shankar fouled on the corner three. Shankar noted the comeback in the fourth quarter started on the defensive side thanks to key blocks and quick offensive baskets to keep hope alive.
The wild ending showcased the competitive strength of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League De Anza Division, where everyone can play, and any team can win on a given night. Los Altos and Mountain View are now 1-2 in league play. The win over Mountain View is the first against the Spartans since 2020. Although the Eagles are still working to jell and integrating players after transfers and injuries, Reilly is hopeful the team’s cohesion will continue to improve.
“We started well tonight, good signs so far,” Reilly said. “That’s the third league game. There are nine more, and they are all going to be hard, so we can’t overreact, but yeah, it’s positive momentum, and we’ve got to keep building it.”
The Eagles took an early lead at the end of the first quarter, 11-6, and had a lead throughout most of the half before a late flurry by Mountain View gave the Spartans a 25-24 lead going into halftime. The Spartans went on a 9-2 run to close the second quarter, aided by three turnovers from Los Altos. Mountain View took control in the third and most of the fourth, leading by seven points at various points. Minor finished with 13 points for the Spartans. Forward Jaden Feller led Mountain View with 15 points.
