Mahamadou Diop, a sophomore from Mali who already has offers from UC Riverside and Texas Tech, scored 10 of his game-high 20 in the fourth quarter including three dunks to go with 13 rebounds and seven blocks.
As dominant as Diop was, King's Academy refused to go away and erased numerous double-digit deficits. The Knights trailed 48-40 after a breakaway dunk by Diop with under three minutes to play. But King's went on a 13-2 run punctuated by a
Claxton Ladine 3-pointer with 13 seconds remaining and the Knights trailing 50-49.
San Gabriel Academy players celebrate their California Division III championship after beating King's Academy 52-51 on Friday at Golden 1 Center. The Eagles were led by 20 points, 13 rebounds and seven blocks from sophomore Mahamadou Diop. (PHOTO: David Steutel)
After two
Xavier Wang free throws gave San Gabriel Academy a 52-49 lead, King's Academy had a chance to tie the game, but the Knights were whistled for an offensive foul. Undaunted,
Karan Kolappa stole an inbounds pass and sprinted to the bucket for a layup as time expired and San Gabriel Academy escaped with the one-point victory.
"We had luck on our side ... I lost some years on my life in that last minute," San Gabriel Academy head coach Daniel Piepoli said.
San Gabriel Academy opened up a 31-18 halftime lead, but King's Academy clawed back into the game with a 14-5 run in the third period fueled by a pesky defense and transition offense led by
Xavier Barnett and
Boss Mhoon. Landine led King's Academy with 13, Koappa chipped in 12 and Barnett added 11.
"They're a great transition team. When they get out and run, they execute at a very high level,"Piepoli said. "We slowed the game down for them and it made them really move the
basketball around and with our length and size and athleticism it feels
like six guys out there to other teams. I think we have one of the best
defenses in California."
The Knights trailed 38-32 after the third period only to see Diop score
his 10 in the quarter, including six straight that bumped the lead to 48-36 with 2 minutes to play.
King's Academy got its final push to the thrilling finish with a stifling man press and hitting 7 of 10 free throws down the stretch.
"I think we're going to be working on press break until they don't want do another basketball drill in their life," Piepoli said.
Mahamadou Diop scored 10 of his game-high 20 points in the fourth quarter of San Gabriel Academy's 52-51 win Friday over King's Academy. The sophomore originally from Mali in West Africa said in a postgame press conference his dream is to play in the NBA. (PHOTO: David Steutel)
Claxton Ladine led King's Academy with 13 points in a 52-51 loss to San Gabriel Academy on Friday in the Division III finals. (PHOTO: David Steutel)
