LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA — Brentwood boys basketball coach Ryan Bailey was yelling into the huddle during a timeout with nine seconds left and his team trailing by three.
“When they inbound the ball, foul. We have two (fouls) to give!”
He repeated: “Foul. We have two to give!”
The sign of youth reared its ugly head as Windward’s Louis Bond took the inbound pass and nailed a 3-pointer at the top of the key to tie the game and send it into overtime. No foul.
“Yea, that was on us,” Brentwood’s AJ Okoh said with a smirk.
Okoh took blame with a smirk because Brentwood was able to still win the game 70-66 in overtime on Monday night and keep his team unbeaten in the Gold Coast League at 5-0.
Windward dropped to 17-5 and 2-1 in league play.
The win was impressive, but what’s more impressive is Brentwood did it led by freshman Shalen Sheppard and Okoh, who’s just a sophomore. The young tandem has established themselves as the anchor to a Brentwood team that is now 22-3 and a lock for a CIF Southern Section Division 1 playoff berth based on the most recent playoff computer rankings.
Okoh had a career-high 28 points. Sheppard, who’s 6-foot-8, scored his season average with 18 points.
“He’s a special player,” Bailey said of Sheppard. “High, high IQ player. I actually have to remember he’s only 15 years old.”
Okoh scored 12 points in the third quarter, including multiple threes. The crafty point guard just picked up an offer from UC Irvine a week ago.
Brentwood also has another standout freshman in Ethan Hill, a 6-foot-6 forward who is sidelined indefinitely with a hand injury. He didn’t play Monday night. Sophomore Reed Langan is another underclassman to watch — he is the ultimate role player, scrapping for offensive rebounds and playing hardnosed defense.
The future is bright, yes, but the Eagles will be a contender in the postseason despite its youth.
Windward was led by senior guard Jeremiah Hampton’s 25 points.
Santa Margarita 67, St. John Bosco 66: Brayden Kyman hit a game-winning 3-pointer. He finished with 19 points.
Palisades 67, Venice 59: Jack Levey had 15 points and Tommy Pickens added 16 for the Dolphins.
Sun Valley Poly 91, North Hollywood 44: JD Wyatt tallied 32 points in the victory.
Fairfax 54, University 37: Muhammad Singleton had 21 points.
St. Pius X-St. Matthias 68, St. Paul 62: Jaden Erami tallied 25 points and Kaleb Kearse added 21 in the win.
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