Sequoia’s Jean Ayarza is one of those basketball players who doesn’t get a lot of accolades. Not when your team features 6-6 center Ziggy Lauese, who is arguably the best player in San Mateo County.
But teams can’t win without players like Ayarza. He’s one of those guys who does the dirty work. He hustles. He scraps. He makes himself as big a pest as possible to the other team.
And every now and then, those kind of players find themselves in the spotlight.
Such was the case for Ayarza in the Cherokees’ game against Half Moon Bay in the semifinals of the Peninsula Athletic League Tournament. With the Cougars leading 51-49 with 3:14 left to play, Ayarza thrust himself into limelight. His reverse layup with 2:28 tied the game and ignited a personal 6-0 mini-explosion for Ayarza as Sequoia finished the game on a 9-0 run to beat Half Moon Bay 58-51 at the Cabrillo Unified School District Event Center in Half Moon Bay Friday afternoon.
“I just do what I can do to help the team,” said Ayarza, a senior forward. “Offensively, I feel like if I’m open, I’ll take the shot.”
With the win, Sequoia advances to the 7:45 p.m. championship game Saturday night at the Event Center against Jefferson, which beat Mills 56-41 in the other semifinal game.
Ayarza would finish with nine points, six coming in the final 2:13. After the layup, Ayarza hit back-to-back jumpers on flashes to the free throw line. The second bucket put Sequoia up 55-51 with 1:33.
“That’s his range,” said Sequoia head coach Fine Lauese. “More than that, was his defense. He took two or three charges.”
Of course it was Ayarza who had the defensive play of the game and it proved to be pivotal. With under three minutes to play, Half Moon Bay center Ethan Menzies received a pass out of the perimeter, with Sequoia’s Ziggy Lauese out guarding him. Both big men had four fouls, so any slip from either could have ended their night. Menzies put the ball on the floor, turned the corner and drove the baseline with Ziggy Lauese in his chest.
Ziggy Lauese had to finally relent to avoid picking up the foul, but in came Ayarza, who established position a fraction of a second before Menzies barreled into him.
Offensive foul. Menzies fouled out with 13 points and six rebounds.
About 20 seconds later, Ayarza tied the game on the opposite end to jump-start the Cherokees’ game-winning run, which enabled Sequoia to outscore the Cougars 21-6 in the final eight minutes.
“We played really well for three quarters,” said Half Moon Bay coach John Parsons. “The fourth quarter got us. (The difference) was just a couple things here and there.”
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Much like Ayarza did for Sequoia, Danny Mack did for the Cougars. With Menzies battling foul trouble all game long, Mack was tasked with trying to contain Ziggy Lauese in the post. Giving up at least two inches and probably 30 pounds, Mack tried to make himself as big as possible.
It worked out pretty well. After Ziggy Lauese scored 12 points and pulled down nine rebounds in the first half, he was limited to four points and six boards in the second half, with Mack handling most of the defensive chores.
“I had to guard Ziggy really well,” Mack said. “We had a lot of scouting on him.”
Mack also managed to get some offense going as well, scoring a pair of putback baskets in the third quarter as he finished with eight points.
It should come as no surprise that the game came down to the wire. Both teams were PAL division champions and they both played that way. The game was tied at 15 after eight minutes of play, but HMB opened the second quarter with a Menzies dunk and a David Billington 3-pointer gave the Cougars a 20-15 lead. HMB eventually built a 24-19 lead before Sequoia ended the half on a 9-2 run, including a Ziggy Lauese putback at the buzzer to give the Cherokees a 28-26 lead.
The Cougars scored the first two buckets of the third quarter — Mack on a putback and Menzies on a jumper for a 30-28 HMB advantage. A pair of Sorie Syme free throws with three seconds left in the third gave the Cougars the biggest lead of the game for either team, 45-37, as HMB outscored the Cherokees 19-9 in the period on 7 of 13 shooting.
But over the final eight minutes, Sequoia turned the tables and the Cougars simply could not make a shot. HMB hit on just 2 of 10 shots in the quarter, compared to the 57 percent clip (8 for 14) for Sequoia.
“We didn’t knock down a couple good looks,” Mack said.
Jefferson 56, Mills 41
Up 33-31 heading into the fourth quarter, the Grizzlies poured in 23 points in the final eight minutes to knock off the Vikings in the semifinals of the PAL Tournament at CUSD Event Center Friday night.
Rodney Lawrence scored a game-high 25 points, including going 9 for 9 from the free throw line. Marquez Costiniano added 12 for the Grizzlies.
Colby Vasquez led Mills with 16 points. Michael Matsuno, who nailed nine 3-pointers in the Vikings’ first-round win Thursday, added two more Friday — but they were the only baskets he made as he finished with six points.
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