Three weeks after Los Altos staged a comeback on the road and stunned Mountain View, the Spartans returned the favor in a 45-39 away win Tuesday.
The Mountain View boys basketball team was down 36-31 with six minutes left in the fourth quarter before going on a 9-0 run in three minutes to get a win against cross-town rivals Los Altos. The Spartans lost an overtime thriller Jan. 9 game against the Eagles that helped motivate the players.
“A lot of emotions right now,” Mountain View forward Jaden Feller said after Tuesday’s close game. “We lost this last one; we should have won it. Now, we finally pulled it through. We deserved this win. All the hard work has paid off.”
Mountain View head coach Kevin Mack felt the extra intensity from the players in Monday’s practice before the game after letting the previous meeting slip away. Mountain View had a 54-47 lead before the Eagles went on an 11-4 run that shocked the Spartans.
“I think that definitely played a part,” Mack said of the previous matchup. “I think they were motivated to not lose on [Los Altos’] court but also not get swept this year. We have had some pretty good success over the last four or five years against them.”
After a close three quarters and Los Altos holding a one-point lead, Mountain View took control in the fourth quarter Tuesday, with the Spartans outscoring Los Altos 14-7. Mack said Los Altos was going down the middle of the court and getting to the rim early in the game before Mountain View’s help defense in the fourth forced the Eagles into tougher shots than earlier. The Spartans instead forced Los Altos away from the middle and towards the baseline so players could help, with the Eagles missing several shots late.
“I think our defense really is what won us the game, getting stops in the fourth quarter when we needed them,” Mack said.
The Mountain View run on the offensive end began with a Will Chesley midrange shot before a big three to tie it at 36 from Feller, followed by a layup and two free throws from point guard Jayden Minor to make it 40-36. Los Altos made it 40-39 with two minutes remaining but couldn’t pull ahead.
“Basketball is a game of runs,” Feller said. “Our run just happened to be towards the end. We were neck and neck the entire game. We just found a way to push through at the end,” Feller said.
Momentum shifted when Feller hit an open three from the top of the key to tie it and force a Los Altos timeout, with Mack calling the shot the biggest play of the game. In addition to being a shot blocker with the range to help and force opponents into more challenging shots, Feller has a well-rounded offensive game that extends to the three-point line.
“I just know I’m a good shooter,” Feller said of his shot to tie. “I’m just going to keep taking my shots, and I know it will eventually go in.”
“I thought he was huge in that fourth quarter defensively, making guys adjust their shots inside when he slid over to help,” Mack said of Feller. “Offensively, he’s just become a dual threat where we can throw him in the post and post him up, and we can do some isolation things for him, but he can also knock down three-pointers.”
Much of the Mountain View offense late in the game flowed through Minor and Feller passing and shooting. The pair played together at Graham Middle School and the club level, with both adept at figuring out what the other wants to do and how to use the pick-and-roll game to get open and create space. The pair scored Mountain View’s last 12 points of the game.
“He’s been one of my best friends since we were young,” Feller said of Minor. “We’ve got that chemistry that we have built up over a long time. It’s just clicking now; it’s just automatic.”
The win puts the Spartans on a three-game winning streak and moves Mountain View (14-7) up to third place in the SCVAL De Anza Division at 5-4 and a game against Milpitas Thursday. Los Altos (12-9) is now 4-5 in league play and sits in fifth place, with an away game at Los Gatos Thursday.
