LOS AMIGOS defeated Santiago High 57-52 in overtime Friday in a battle for first place in the Garden Grove League (OC Tribune photo).

By Jim Tortolano/Orange County Tribune

It was as close as Taylor and Travis. As close as a politician and his contributors. As close as an Italian and his pasta spoon.

It was close, but the Los Amigos Lobos pulled away in a frantic overtime period at home Friday night to take the lead in the Garden Grove League boys basketball race with a a 57-52 victory over Santiago High.

The Lobos are now 15-6 overall and 5-0 in league play; the Cavaliers are 11-12 and 4-1
“This is a great bunch of players,” said DeAndre Ferguson, coach of the victorious Lobos. “They’re passionate. They play hard and they practice hard.”

They needed every bit of that effort against a scrappy Cavalier team that rallied repeatedly, even scoring the tying basket a split-second before the fourth period ended.

Santiago held a 29-28 lead at halftime, but the Lobos climbed to a 41-38 lead after the third period. They had a 48-46 lead with a two seconds to go. The Cavs had the ball and – somehow – freshman Regis Hearn slipped inside the Lobos defense to toss in the tying score.

Santiago took a 52-48 lead early in OT on two more field goals by Hearn, but Los Amigos answered with a three-pointer by Joshua Martinez to make the score 52-51. Rich Toledo sunk two free throws for LA to give the home team a 53-52 edge. He added another basket and Tomas Pachecho another with 20 seconds to play and that was it.

Toledo led the Lobos and all scorers with 24 points; Jacob Buboi was the top scorer for Santiago with 14.
When the game was over, fans mobbed the Lobo bench for a few moments in celebration of the key win. But it’s not over yet. The two teams will meet again on Feb. 1 in the Santiago gym and the race may still be, well, close, even then.