Boys Hoops: Highlanders Upend Bulldogs In Friday Night Thriller

The Pasadena boys basketball team did just about every thing it could to erase an 11-point second-half deficit and come away victorious Friday night.

The Bulldogs held a three-point lead with just under three minutes left in the game and appeared well on their way to a thrilling second round win on the road at Upland. The only thing blocking their path to the quarterfinals of the CIF-Southern Section Division 1AA playoffs, though, was Upland forward Anthony Fitzpatrick.

The sixth-seeded Bulldogs were powerless to stop Fitzpatrick from attacking the offensive glass, and with Fitzpatrick tipping in missed shots and prolonging possessions, the No. 11 Highlanders eked out a 56-51 win.

“That guy is irreplaceable on the boards,” Upland coach Anthony Mason said. “That kid is just energizer bunny. He just goes and goes until he can’t go anymore. I give him a sub, and he goes back in and just boards and boards and boards. You can’t replace Anthony Fitzpatrick.”

Fitzpatrick grabbed nine of his game-high 14 rebounds in the fourth and final quarter, and many of those boards led to second chance points for the Highlanders.

“My coaches told us, we’ve got to rebound. We’ve got to rebound,” said Fitzpatrick, who also scored nine points.

His put back with less than a minute remaining gave the Highlanders a critical 54-51 lead, forcing the Bulldogs to look for a 3 to tie the game.

The Bulldogs were unable to get off a decent shot on the ensuing possession as Steven Adams missed a 3-pointer from the right wing with about 24 seconds left.

Pasadena was forced to foul, and Myles Pearson knocked down two free throws to ice the game.

“That was the difference in the game,” Pasadena coach Tim Tucker said of Upland’s ability to crash the boards. “We’re not a really good rebounding (team), we’re just bigger. And we talked about it all the time: we don’t block out, we just jump.

"And you’re going to catch a guy like (Fitzpatrick) who’s just as athletic, and if he gets his hands on the ball (it's) either going to bounce the right way or the wrong way. It bounced the wrong way three times.”

The Bulldogs’ failed final possession was indicative of their struggles all night against Upland’s zone defense. The Highlanders (20-9) clogged up the paint with multiple defenders and took away any driving lanes for Pasadena’s Austin Daniels and John Hayward.

The only thing that was open for the Bulldogs (21-7) were shots out on the perimeter, which they were unable to convert.

“We just didn’t hit shots,” Pasadena coach Tim Tucker said. “You look at Blake (Hamilton), (he) missed his shots tonight. We were 18 out of 42 from the field, and 1-for-8 from the 3-point line. And on the road you can’t win like that.”

Daniels and Hayward finished with 10 and 12 points, respectively.

While the Bulldogs were ice cold from downtown, the Highlanders relied on their long-distance shooting to jump start their offense.

After a first quarter that saw the Highlanders shoot 0-for-3 from beyond the arc, the second quarter saw them catch fire. Upland knocked down its first four triples in the period (two from Pearson and two from Gilliam) to race ahead 25-16.

Gilliam, who scored a game-high 18 points, hit two more 3s in the third quarter, and senior guard Julian Nichols rattled home one of his own as the Highlanders built a 45-34 lead at the two-minute mark of the third period.

“We knew they could shoot,” Daniels said. “We tried to contain them, but they drove and kicked it out and hit a 3.”

Once the Bulldogs clamped down on Upland’s outside shooters, they made their final push. Pasadena scored the final six points of the quarter to head into the final period down just 45-40.

The Bulldogs kept their foot on the gas in the fourth, and Adams’ bucket and free throw with 3:02 to go gave Pasadena its first lead since the first quarter. Daniels then stole the ball at midcourt and drove for a layup and a three-point lead.

But Daniels’ basket counted for the Bulldogs' last, and the Highlanders scored the game’s last eight points of the game.

“I thought that when we took the lead, we panicked and we kept rushing,” Tucker said. “Instead of relaxing taking a deep breath, we took some ill advised shots, and then they pushed down and scored.”