Dragon boys win nail-biter

Sonoma scores seven points in last minute for the win|

Sonoma’s Dominic Tommasi hit a huge three-pointer from the corner with less than a minute to play in Friday night’s Sonoma-Elsie Allen game. The shot broke a 50-50 tie as the Dragons went on to win a nail-biter, 57-54.

The win broke a three-game Dragon losing streak.

“It was a much needed win,” said Coach Mike Boles. “The players responded and we’re very proud of them.”

The game was close from start to finish as the biggest lead either team had was six points.

Trailing 9-5 in the first quarter, the Dragons took the lead on a free throw by sophomore Brendan Hogan, a trey by junior Dylan Samaniego and a basket by senior Luke Severson.

In the second quarter, the Dragons had to start playing catch-up when the Lobos started hitting threes. Elsie Allen had seven threes in the first half including five in the second quarter and held a 29-23 halftime lead.

Senior Colton Mertens hit two baskets to start the third quarter. After an Elsie free throw, Mertens hit two free throws and senior Nazir Lyle hit a bucket to give the Dragons a one-point lead. But late in the quarter, Elsie hit two more treys to again take the lead. When sophomore Justin Cox hit a basket with three seconds left in the quarter, it pulled the Dragons back to within one.

In the fourth quarter, the Dragons kept clawing back. Trailing 44-41 halfway through the quarter, Samaniego hit two baskets and senior Eric Bailey converted on a three-point play to give Sonoma a 48-44 lead.

With the game tied at 50 in the last minute, Boles called a time out, and it was right after that timeout that Tommasi hit a trey from the corner. Severson hit a pair of free throws with 20 seconds left, and Lyle hit a pair with 8.2 seconds that sealed the win.

The Dragons may have had a more comfortable margin if they had hit more free throws. The Dragons were 12 of 26 from the charity stripe.

Mertens led the Dragon attack with 16 points, Lyle had a dozen, Samaniego had 11, Severson had six to go along with nine rebounds, Hogan had four, Tommasi and Bailey each had three and Cox had two.

The win gives the Dragons an 11-11 overall mark and a 4-4 league mark.

The Dragons will be at Petaluma on Wednesday before returning home to face Analy on Friday.

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