CERRITOS — Spacing and physicality were issues Thursday for the Gahr boys basketball team, and a pair of second-half lulls offensively contributed to a season-ending loss for the Gladiators.
Gahr was within striking distance entering the final quarter, but a 5 1/2-minute scoring drought to open the fourth was too much to overcome, as Gahr lost 50-37 to Shalhevet in the second round of the CIF State Division III playoffs.
The top-seeded Gladiators (22-11), who trailed 26-25 at halftime, were also hurt by the Firehawks’ 10-0 run to start the third quarter.
Gahr coach Marcus Girley was proud of his young team, which was expected to have “a down year” but topped the 20-win mark.
“It was a great season, no complaints,” Girley said. “I understand, at some point, the music stops, and today was Shalhevet’s day.”
Eighth-seeded Shalhevet (23-8) will face fifth-seeded Colony (22-12) in the CIF Southern California Regional semifinals Saturday.
The Firehawks were led by forward Sam Jacobson, who consistently muscled his way to the basket and finished with a game-high 23 points. Guard Yakov Liberman added 12 points, including a layup to beat the buzzer to give Shalhevet the lead at the end of the first half.
Firehawks coach Tim Tucker credited Liberman for picking up his production after Jacobson scored all 10 of the team’s first-quarter points.
“Yakov’s one of our captains,” Tucker said. “In order for us to have success, we need Yakov to score the ball and lead us like he does.”
The Gladiators got a team-high 14 points from Bryce Titus and 13 from forward Makhi Montgomery.
However, the defensive ball pressure from Shalhevet made Gahr’s offense stagnant for long stretches.
In addition, the Firehawks mostly limited the Gladiators to one shot on their possessions. Gahr had only two offensive rebounds — both in the second quarter.
“We’re definitely a perimeter-dominant team,” Montgomery said. “Even though the bigs may be open on the inside, it’s difficult for our guards to see them.”
Gahr led by five points on a pair of early occasions, including a 21-16 lead in the second quarter on a Montgomery 3-pointer.
Girley said it was tough to maintain because some of the shots that went in “weren’t great shots.”
“We’re not working our actions, not executing our sets,” Girley said. “We were playing a little bit of hero ball. It’s going to work temporarily, but at some point that magic runs out. I just thought their physicality took away our spacing and execution offensively in the second half.”
The Firehawks also took better care of the ball, turning it over just twice after halftime and finishing with six for the game.
The Highlanders had 13 turnovers, including four in the opening six possessions of the fourth quarter as they started to fade away.
Defensively, Jacobson was a tough cover from start to finish, and his ability to find open 3-point shooters when double-teamed made it difficult for Gahr to send help.
“Solid player, big guy and nice touch around the rim,” Montgomery said. “Even if you felt like you stopped him, he was still able to find his shots and finish through contact. … He had good court vision so if we stopped him, he got it out to the shooters and shooters shoot. Knocked down shots and ultimately put more points on the board.”
Girley was proud of Montgomery’s growth as a senior in his lone year of varsity basketball, while four sophomores started at various points of the season.
“It just took us some time to find our footing,” Girley said of the season. “We kind of just learned on the fly and we kept getting better and better. This is probably the most resilient team I’ve had since I’ve been here.
“Execution was never perfect, but their energy and their mindset was always working toward getting better.”
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