– Jon Charron –

Following a 51 point thumping over Greenfield in the league opener, the Breakers blew an 11 point fourth quarter league against King City Friday night. “We were resilient,” Pacific Grove head coach Dan Powers said after the Breakers were able to pull out the 63-54 overtime victory. However, Powers added that “we were complacent for most of the game, and they really should have won” [01-09-15].

After jumping out to a quick 6-2 lead over King City, Chip Wagner made the play of the game for Pacific Grove. Following a Sam Fenstermaker steal and layup attempt, Wagner went above the rim and dunked the miss home, giving the Breakers an 8-2 lead midway through the first quarter.

Put back dunk by Chip Wagner gave the Breakers an 8-2 lead early in the first

Going into the second quarter, the Breakers led 15-7, but the Mustangs would not go away. King City hit three 3-pointers to keep pace with the Breakers in the second quarter. Just before the half, Apollo Marquez was able to steal the ball, but after he missed the layup, Noah Dalhamer was able to put it back in. Allowing Pacific Grove to go into half time up 32-24.

King City started the third quarter with a 3-point basket, but free throws and a basket by Brad Sendell made sure that the Breakers kept their eight point lead. After another King City 3-pointer brought them within four points, Erol Ersek got the steal and went the length of the court to put the Breakers back up 40-34 with 4:12 left in the quarter. With 1:15 left in the third quarter, Ersek made his mark again when he took the ball at the top of the key, drove, and made the floater.

Brad Sendell got things going for the Breakers to start the fourth quarter when he found Zack Miller for the easy basket. With a 13 point lead, the Breakers looked like they were going to close things out. The Mustangs though, caught fire and went on a 14-6 run to pull within three. After a Sendell basket put the Breakers back up by five, the Mustangs made a basket to pull back within three with only 1:50 left in the game. A Breakers turnover gave the Mustangs the ball back and a chance to tie. With 40 seconds left the Mustangs hit the 3-pointer to tie the game up at 53-53.

To start overtime, King City was able to draw a foul and go to the line. After making one of two, the Mustangs had a 54-53 lead, making it their first lead of the game. The lead would only last for moments though, as Brad Sendell took over for the Breakers. Sendell hit a 3-pointer, then drew a charge, then hit a 2-point basket to put the Breakers up 58-54. To finish off the Mustangs, Erol Ersek took the pass from Sendell and drained the corner three.

Brad Sendell had a game high 24 points and 6 steals, while Erol Ersok added 11 points in the Breakers victory.

Stats –

Pacific Grove (7-3, 2-0) will next play at Carmel (6-6, 2-0) on Wednesday, January 14, 2015 at 7:30 p.m.