DOLPHINS UPSET GECKOS HOME FINALE

By John Baza

Trailing for majority of the game, the Southern High Dolphins were able to use a big fourth quarter to comeback and beat the GW Geckos 62-59 on the Geckos’ home court this Friday night.

With the win, the Dolphins avenge an early season loss to the Geckos, returning the favor and defeating them on their home court in what will be the last regular season home-game for the Geckos in 2015.

The Dolphins showcased their resilience and composure as they held on throughout the game, seizing the opportunity to gain the lead in the final 4 minutes and never looked back.

“We did a good job of moving around the ball and setting up our teammates” replied the Dolphins’ Diallo Cruz on his team’s victory. Cruz also credits that his team worked a lot on defense especially leading up to this game.

Cruz, who was in “attack-mode” all night for the Dolphins, dropped 18 points. He was followed by teammate Dominic Diego who chipped in 14 points. The Geckos’ Mat Soto lead all scorers with 19 points in the bout, followed by teammates Renz Brozo and Devin San Augustin who had 12 and 10 points respectively.

Entering the final quarter of play, the Dolphins were down 45-39, but buckets courtesy of Cruz, Phil Jardaleza, and Ryan Teologo kept the visiting team’s hopes alive.

Free throws from Brozo kept the Geckos on top (49-47) but the Dolphins’ Christian Lopez was able to sink in the tough layup with contact, tying the game at 49 with 4:30 left to play.

The Dolphins got their big break when Diallo Cruz was able to convert on a layup, finally giving the visiting team the 51-49 lead halfway through the 4th.

Trailing 57-51 with just under a minute left in the 4th, the Geckos’ Devin San Augustin was able to convert from the freethrow line with 2 points, also adding a layup off a forced Dolphins turnover (57-55) with 48 seconds left.

With both teams in the bonus, the Dolphins Ryan Teologo and Geckos’ Matt Soto were able to make it count from the charity stripe as both players made their freethrows to keep the score close (60-57) as time winded down.

The Geckos’ San Augustin gave his team a big lift as he hit a circus shot layup after a steal, bringing the Geckos within one point (60-59) with 14 ticks left in the final quarter of action.

Forced to foul, the Geckos sent Southern’s Dominic Diego to the line. Diego would go on to calmly sink both freethrows to extend their slim lead with 2.8 sec left (62-59).

On their final possession, GW inbounded the ball to Lester Gaitan in the corner, who threw a prayer 3-point attempt that just missed the mark.

The entire game was closely contested and physical, with multiple possession changes as well as lead changes throughout. But when it mattered, the Dolphins were able to keep their composure and fight off the scrappy Geckos.

Other Scores

St. Paul 45, Sanchez 36
Guam High def. Tiyan