Ijezie Anopueme's 33 points and 20 rebounds lead Narbonne to 56-53 overtime win over Gardena
GARDENA, Calif. -- Narbonne head coach Anthony Hilliard is used to Ijezie Anopueme's monster stat lines. Scoring 33 points and grabbing 20 rebounds, like Anopueme did on Friday, isn't out of the ordinary for the senior.
"He had 34 and 17 in the last game so he's just been continuing with the solid play that he's been doing," Hilliard said.
The Gauchos needed all 33 points from Anopueme on the road against rival Gardena on Friday. Narbonne led 48-43 with 30 seconds to play, but a 3 from Gardena's Chase Williams and layup from Quincy Phillips forced overtime. Gauchos' senior Christian Gill drilled a 3 at the start of overtime and then Anopueme added a 3-point play to make the score 56-50 Narbonne with 1:06 remaining. Williams connected on another 3 for the Panthers on their next possession, but that was as close as Gardena would get and Narbonne escaped with a 56-53 win.
"That was a tough one right there," Hilliard said. "Gardena plays solid, good man to man defense. Coach Carr does a really good job. They run their offense real efficiently. That's a big win for us."
LOOKING AHEAD TO THE POSTSEASON
The victory will most likely lead to Narbonne and Gardena splitting the Marine League title if the two teams win their remaining two league games as expected. Gardena beat Narbonne 53-49 last month. Both teams will most likely qualify for the Open Division playoffs in the City and will each have a real chance to win. The City Section is wide open this season.
"Whoever plays the best on that day is the team that's gonna win," Hilliard said. "I think everybody has a solid chance and everybody's going to come in confident because I think anybody can win on any given day."
The playoffs begin the week of Feb. 14.
