Sports
Agoura Upsets Calabasas 69-65 in OT in Marmonte Hoops
The Chargers come from behind and make the key plays down the stretch.
With 15 seconds left in overtime and Agoura High clinging to a three-point lead over , Charger Philip Chang was sitting during a timeout with a lot to contemplate. He had just missed the first of two key free throws. So why was he smiling on the bench?
“I was actually laughing, just thinking to myself, ‘Man, make the second one, and my teammates will back me up no matter what,’” he said.
Chang made the second free throw and his teammates were able to stop Calabasas one last time to preserve a 69-65 victory in front of a jubilant home crowd, as underdog Agoura (9-10, 2-5) broke a three-game losing streak while snapping Calabasas’ four-game winning streak.
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Calabasas jumped to an early 10-point lead, as Leonard Gorokhow hit two 3-pointers in the first period.
“We just had to buckle down and play defense, most importantly, because they were getting too many 3s,” Chang said. “We just had to get out and contest the shooter.”
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Calabasas went cold in the second quarter and scored just five points. Meanwhile, Agoura found success driving to the basket against the larger Coyotes’ front line, which had racked up several blocks in the first quarter.
“They weren't going to take charges,” said Shayan Boloor, whose 18 points paced Agoura. “They were just going to try and block us and hack us. Luckily the refs started calling fouls and helped us.”
Before the game, Agoura coach Jim Riccio pointed to poor free throw shooting as a key reason for his team’s recent slide. Neither team helped themselves at the line, as Agoura was 23-for-41 while Calabasas was 9-for-25.
Steven Wilson also had 18 points for Agoura, including 11 in the second half. Josh Cohan of Calabasas scored 19.
BOYS BASKETBALL
AGOURA 69, CALABASAS 65
Calabasas - 22 - 5 - 14 - 19 - 5 - 65
Agoura - 12 -17 - 14 - 17 - 9 - 69
CALABASAS (65): Lieberman 5, Gorokhow 15, Dewar 13, Cohan 19, Hoetzel 6, Sahebifard 5, Regan 2.
AGOURA (69): Priskorn 12, Wallace 7, Boolar 18, Wilson 18, Chang 10, Budginas 4.
Records: C 14-6, 5-2; A 9-10, 2-5.