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M-A wins tournament with miracle shot, 46-45

This story was posted Dec. 30 in Town Square on TheAlmanacOnline.com by Tarny Perkins, the parent of a player.

Capping a successful three-game appearance at the North Monterey County Tournament, the Menlo-Atherton boys' basketball team used a last-second shot to pull off a 46-45 victory over Hollister in the championship game Wednesday afternoon in Castroville.

With Hollister shooting the hot hand and Menlo-Atherton coming out cold, M-A trailed Hollister until the final seconds.

With 30 seconds left and M-A down by one, Coach Phil White inserted the Perkins twins with a single mission — steal the ball.

Mission accomplished. Pressure from Jesse Perkins and the divine interception by Christian Perkins led to a pass to a streaking Jeff Keller who dribbled the length of the court for the go-ahead layup with only 2.9 seconds to go.

M-A took the lead for the first time at 46-45. Hollister inbounded to center court and could only throw up a half court prayer that hit nothing but air.

Keller and Mahoni shared scoring honors with 14 each, followed by Brewer with 7, Gilbertson with 6 and Foster with 5.

The entire M-A team showed grit and determination, particularly on defense. Jeff Keller was the MVP of the tournament. Walbank Mahoni and Myles Brewer were selected to the all-tournament team.