Last second bucket lifts Liberty to tournament win

Wendy Alexander/The Madera Tribune

Liberty’s Harman Singh goes up for two of his team-high 12 points. Singh scored the both the game-tying and game-winning points in Friday’s tournament win over Yosemite.

The Liberty Hawks boys basketball team was outscored in the second half 35-20, but got a last second bucket from Harman Singh for a 44-42 victory over the Yosemite-Oakhurst Badgers at their Liberty Hawks Tournament.

Singh hit a 3-pointer to tie the game and put back a miss to win it with 12 seconds left in Friday’s tournament game. He recorded a double-double with 12 points and 12 rebounds.

“Our senior leadership kicked in at the end with Harman. His 3-pointer and putback saved us,” head coach Johnny Gonzales said. “We are a young group. We are still trying to find that core to help us stay in some games.”

Isaiah Gonzalez led the Hawks with 16 points, 15 coming on 3-pointers with four in the second quarter.

Shane Williams added six points to go with eight rebounds.

Yosemite jumped out to the quick 8-0 lead before the Hawks started to wake up. Singh hit a short jumper and put back a miss to get Liberty on the scoreboard. Nate Martinez hit a driving seven-foot floater to cut the lead to two.

Yosemite made a layup with about 2:30 left in the first quarter for a 10-6 lead and that was the final bucket for both teams for the rest of the quarter.

Yosemite opened the second quarter with a pair of free throws and a 3-pointer to open the lead to 15-6.

Then, Gonzalez started to get hot with his first 3-pointer. Williams made two free throws and Gonzalez hit a 3-pointer to cut the lead to one. Israel Rivera made a layup for a 10-0 run and give the Hawks a 156-15 lead.

Yosemite answered with a 3-pointer, but Josh Chohan hit one for the Hawks to keep the one-point lead.

Gonzalez added to the lead with a 3-pointer and added another one at the end of the first half for a 25-18 lead.

Nolasco opened the second half with a 3-pointer for a 28-18 lead and a 12-0 run.

After a Yosemite layup, Williams put back a miss. However, while Liberty missed its next eight shots, including three 3-pointers, the Badgers scored six straight to cut the lead to 30-26.

Gonzalez stopped the run with a 3-pointer, but the Badgers answered with six straight points to take a 34-33 lead at the end of the third quarter after a 14-3 run.

Gonzales made a free throw to tie the game a 34 to open the fourth quarter. After a Yosemite free throw, Singh hit a short jumper and made a layup for a 37-35 Liberty lead. Williams put back a missed shot for a four-point lead.

Yosemite came back with a 3-pointer to cut the lead to one. Liberty missed its next six straight shots, including three free throws while the Badgers made four free throws for a 42-39 lead with two mintues left in the game.

After he pulled down a defensive rebound, Singh banked in a 3-pointer to tie the game with 1:27 left.

Yosmite missed a shot and the Hawks turned the ball over. Yosemite missed another shot and Nolasco came down with a rebound. He went up the court and missed a short jumper, but Singh was following behind and put it back in for a 44-42 lead with 12.7 seconds left in the game.

Yosemite drew up a play, but Singh blocked a shot at the final buzzer to preserve the victory.