When Hart boys basketball entered the overtime period against West Ranch on Friday night, coach Tom Kelly told his team to reset the score in their minds.
“Both teams had opportunities to win it in regulation, so we just got into overtime, we just said, ‘Hey, the score is 0-0.’ We’ve got four minutes to try and make plays to win,” he said.
The Wildcats (11-10 overall, 2-2 in Foothill League) got to work early in overtime, but Hart’s Brady Dunlap was able to drain some timely three’s in the beginning and middle of the extra time to seal up a 74-68 win at West Ranch High School. With the win, the Indians (13-9, 3-1) remain in second place in the Foothill League standings.
“He can shoot it,” Kelly said of Dunlap. “We parked all year. We’re pretty good from the perimeter and so we have a variety of guys who can hit shots and he’s one of them.”
Jonah El-Farra ended the night with 30 points for the Wildcats and Clyde Seo chipped in 16. Both were menaces on offense and defense and gave Hart complications throughout the night, whether it was scoring inside or grabbing boards.
Four Indians finished in double-figures. Dillon Barrientos had 23 points, Ty Penberthy had 20 points, Dunlap had 12 points and six rebounds and Isaac Dedon had 14 points and four assists.
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Barrientos, a junior, was valuable last season and Hart has only seen his stock rise this season.
“We’ve been expecting it,” Kelly said. “Near the end of last year he played such a big role for us as a sophomore and we saw a little bit of what he could do and we’re just excited that he’s been more aggressive as a junior.”
The Indians have now picked up two road wins this week and resume league play at home on Tuesday against Saugus. Tipoff is at 6:30 p.m. West Ranch will be at Golden Valley at 6:30 on Tuesday.
Valencia 84, Golden Valley 45
Noah Veluzat led the Vikings (16-4, 4-0) with 23 points, five assists and four rebounds. Jake Hlywiak followed with 21 points (four three’s) and three assists. Jr. Camacho added 11 points, three assists and three steals and Gabe Latkovich logged 10 points.
Valencia plays Pacifica Christian at the Warrior Showcase on Saturday and Golden Valley (5-13, 0-4) plays Shalhevet on Monday at the Valley Showcase.
