Brodeth’s buzzer beater delivers Aragon to victory

Getting swarmed by his teammates at the baseline, Brodeth has been there before. It was the senior’s second buzzer beater of the year, having also hit the game-winner in Aragon’s first win of the season, Dec. 4, in a 53-52 overtime victory at home over Galileo-SF.

“It’s always a surreal moment,” Brodeth said. “I’ve been here before. It’s super fun. Everyone is around you, it’s one of the best moments you can feel, other than winning something major. And, I don’t know, it’s just super fun seeing all your teammates around you and just knowing you finished off the tournament on a good note.”

With the win, the Dons (7-3) finished the four-team, round-robin tournament 3-0, having also claimed wins over host Fremont 57-44 last Thursday, and over Cupertino 64-48 last Friday. Through the first two wins, sharpshooting Aragon totaled 24 3-pointers, 11 from Cajbon.

Saturday, however, was a different story. Aragon fell behind early after shooting just 2 of 10 from 3-point range in the first quarter. The Dons swung ahead 10-8 on a Cajbon corner 3 with 3:20 to go in the period, but went ice cold from there, as Independence (3-5) responded with a 13-0 run, taking its best lead of the night at 21-10 in the second quarter on a pair of free throws by guard Romeo Pierce.

Aragon chipped away at the lead, though, and finally caught the 76ers with 5:27 to go in regulation on an and-1 by 6-4 center Elias Ausiello, who went 5 for 5 from the the stripe in the fourth quarter en route to scoring a team-high 15 points. It was the senior’s free-throw chops and post presence that kept the Dons in it late, amid five lead changes over the last five-and-a-half minutes.

“We started to make plays,” Aragon head coach Hosea Patton said. “I said: ‘You can’t hit the home run. One basket is not going to go for you. We’ve just got to keep chipping away.’ ... But they made shots, and we just had to continue to chip.”

Independence big man Ethan Gualberto was giving the Dons fits through the first three quarters. Gualberto finished with a double-double of 10 points and 13 rebounds, but Ausiello won the battle in the fourth, holding Gualberto scoreless and allowing him just one rebound on the offensive glass.

“[Ausiello] probably had a game offensively that we haven’t gotten from a big,” Patton said. “He gave us a slight presence inside that we needed.”

Aragon hit just five 3s in the game, but the last one loomed large.

It was Pierce who emerged for the 76ers down the stretch. The junior scored a game-high 20 points, and upped the Independence lead to 58-55 with less than a minute to play on an impressive turnaround midrange jumper. At the other end, Aragon got the ball to senior guard Charlie Platz, who was dribbling out toward the arc when he was fouled with the Dons in the bonus.

Platz went to the line and sank the first free throw, but missed the second. That’s when Ausiello came up with his biggest play of the night by crashing for the rebound, and instinctively kicked it out to the corner as Platz swung over for a wide-open look from long range.

“Just trying to knock down two free throws,” Platz said. “My teammate got a great rebound, hit me in the corner, and I stepped up and shot a confident shot, it went in.”

Platz finished with 11 points, none bigger than the corner splash to give the Dons a 59-58 lead. But the 76ers weren’t done, and went to the well for Pierce one more time, as the junior delivered yet again. This time the flashy guard drove a lane and took on Ausiello, wriggling around the big man with a left-handed scoop layup to give Independence a 60-59 advantage, as Aragon called timeout with six seconds to play.

“That guard was the first thing on our scouting report,” Patton said. “He’s a resemblance of Kaleb. He has the court vision, he’s relentless, he gets to his spots. And so we knew he was going to be tough.”

Taking a baseline inbound, the Dons had to run the full distance of the court. And while the play was designed to go to Brodeth, the senior took the inbound closer to the baseline than he would have preferred. While it seemed Brodeth might have to rely on a Hail Mary shot, he turned on the afterburners and motored coast to coast as time was winding down.

“I was supposed to go a little deeper, but the guy was obviously right in front of me,” Brodeth said. “So, I just wanted to get the ball at a faster pace, so I just kept running back and forth, got it, just tried to get around the guy, and went downhill as fast as I could.”

Brodeth stormed into the key and took off one step beyond the free-throw line, floating it up with one second on the clock to send all Aragon’s hopes toward the cylinder as the buzzer sounded. His light touch caught all net.

“For a little guard, he actually has a floater,” Patton said. “I’ve seen that shot go in, since I’ve had him, more than a handful of times. And he uses it. He knows not to get too deep sometimes ... and he gave himself a chance, and it went in.”

Brodeth finished with 13 points, helping Aragon salvage an off-kilter shooting night. While the Dons went 7 for 12 from the field in the fourth quarter, they shot 39.3% in the game. The 76ers shot 44.9%. Aragon edged out Independence on the boards 33-31.

Cajbon finished with 10 points, including two 3s. The senior played a crisp defensive game, totaling four steals, including three transition scores, two he netted himself, and another notching an assist in the second quarter to junior guard Sebastian Diaz-Jones.

Aragon, though, has still been nails with the 3-ball this season. The Dons finished with 29 3s in the tournament.

“Really great, especially this tournament,” Platz said. “It’s been our identity. A lot of shooters on this team. We also have some slashers, but I think we’re really well-rounded, and I think we’re going to have a good run this year.”