SAN JOSE – The Leland High School boys basketball team had a key 16-3 run in the third quarter over host Branham to take a double-digit lead on Dec. 19.
But the Chargers then had to overcome a fierce Bruins rally in the fourth quarter and a bizarre ending to beat Branham 48-45.
Leland coach Mitchell Shapero said that his team talked at halftime about pushing the tempo a little bit more. It led 24-20 in a low-scoring first half, in which Branham grabbed 20 rebounds and controlled the boards. Brandon Anders had 12 of his game-high 14 rebounds in the first half for the Bruins.
Branham led 30-28 when Leland started its pivotal run. Shane McKnight converted an offensive rebound, then added a layup for a 32-30 Leland advantage. McKnight scored 13 points in the game.
After two free throws by Leland’s Sohan Kshirsagar, teammate Fuad Alemu turned a steal into a layup. A free throw by Michael Esmali and another converted offensive rebound, this time by Khalil Simmons, gave Leland a 39-30 lead.
The run, and the third quarter, ended with a 3-pointer by Leland’s Jaden Dangtran with 2.3 second remaining. Leland outscored Branham 20-13 in the quarter to lead the game 44-33.
But after a layup by Joseph Chen gave Leland a 46-34 advantage with six minutes, 45 seconds remaining in the game, Branham grabbed back the momentum. The Bruins outscored the Chargers 11-2 the rest of the game, including an 11-0 run.
Branham moved within one point of Leland at 46-45 on a layup by DJ Rocha. Kshirsagar, who scored a game-high 14 points and also grabbed eight rebounds, sank an elbow jump shot for a 48-45 Leland advantage with 2:24 left in the game.
There was no scoring for the rest of the game. Leland kept possession of the ball for over a minute on one key sequence as Alemu grabbed a loose ball, then Chen and McKnight produced offensive rebounds.
“That was big,” Shapero said. “Since we couldn’t hit a shot, that was actually why we won the game, our ability to rebound the basketball.”
Branham still had a chance to win the game when it inbounded the ball on its baseline to the left of its basket with just a few seconds remaining in the game. Branham got a shot off, Alemu grabbed the rebound, and it appeared the game had ended.
There was one major problem – the clock didn’t run. A referee ruled that Leland would maintain possession of the ball and inbound it on Branham’s baseline with 2.7 seconds to go.
McKnight inbounded the ball to Kshirsagar. But the clock remained at 2.7 seconds. The referee called the game over.
Branham coach Larry Loeffler said he felt very good about his team’s performance in the game.
“We battled. Leland is a very good team, an A Division team,” he said. “They are a great shooting team. Our job was to contest every 3 they had.”
Leland was 6 for 24 from beyond the 3-point arc, and had only one 3-pointer in the second half.
Luke Sayre paced Branham in scoring with 11 points, including five in the fourth quarter. The 6-foot-5 junior also grabbed eight rebounds.
Leland improved to 6-4 with the victory. Branham fell to 2-5.
