Vikings rule the Coast after holding off Rams
Shakir Odunewu had a double-double at Gavilan
West Valley continued its torrid free-throw shooting in Gilroy Friday to hold off Gavilan 78-72 and capture its third outright Coast-South Conference championship since 2020.
Leading 74-72 with 26 seconds left, Elijah Mahi buried a pair of shots from the line for a four-point Viking lead. Just a few seconds later, after corralling an errant Ram shot, Baron Bracey drained two more from the charity stripe to put it away and secure the title.
West Valley (27-0, 11-0 Coast-South), the 3C2A's top-ranked team, and Gavilan (10-16, 4-6) traded buckets for most of the contest, with neither squad able to put together substantial, game-changing runs.
WVC outrebounded the Rams 38-19 behind a game-high 11 from Shakir Odunewu and 10 from Bracey. But it was a second-straight stellar night from the line that was the difference.
After a perfect 24-24 outing in Wednesday's 77-57 home win over Monterey Peninsula, the Vikings went 19-25 (76%) in Gilroy. The Rams only took seven trips to the line, hitting five, and the 19-5 difference more than accounted for the margin of victory.
Mahi finished 10-11 from the stripe, while Bracey was 4-4 and Jeremiah Dargan was 2-2. Mahi had a team-high 22 points, along with eight rebounds, three assists and a steal.
Odunewu had a 12-point, 11-rebound double-double, his tenth of the season. Dargan's stat line included 16 points, six assists and five rebounds. Aaron Ragen also reached double figures with 12 points. Bricen Buciak paced the Rams with a game-high 24 points.
West Valley wraps up the regular season Feb. 23 against always-dangerous Foothill (13-13, 4-6) in Saratoga. Tipoff is 7:00pm. The teams met on Jan. 31 in Los Altos with the Vikings taking a 100-82 win behind Odunewu's 31 points.