With just under five minutes left to play, Branham was sitting on its first lead of the night, 31-29, over Willow Glen. The Rams huddled together during a timeout as their rowdy home court fans implored them to strike back and seize the victory.

Apparently, Max Gourd was listening to the fans, as well as his coach's instructions. Gourd had exited the game a couple of minutes earlier with an ankle injury, but he was anxious to reenter the action—and it's a good thing he did as far as the Rams were concerned. Gourd picked up seven of his team-leading 14 points in a minute and a half span to help send the game into overtime.

Willow Glen ran a quick set play off the inbounds pass after the time out, shaking Gourd loose for a six-foot jumper that he banked in nicely to pull the Rams even at 31-31. Branham could not retaliate, and less than a minute later Gourd was hanging in the air near the top of the circle, letting fly with a three-pointer that touched nothing but net.

Branham countered with a bucket of its own and then Gourd took a pass down low and backed his way under the hoop to drop in two more, putting the Rams up 36-33.

"When Max went back in, his three pointer got the crowd back in the game," said Willow Glen coach Todd Meeker, "and then the basket down low got the team fired up. His play was key for us offensively in the fourth quarter."

Branham would not give up, though, and Josh Lagod came down court to nail a three-pointer to pull the Bruins even with 2:30 left. Lagod led all scorers with 15 points for the night and was key in getting the Bruins into overtime.

The fired up Rams continued to pour on the pressure. Steve Rebagliati hit a short jump shot for two of his 12 points and guard Nick Ward popped in another three ball to put Willow Glen up by five. But Branham stayed alive by taking advantage of a couple of fouls by the Rams when they tried to stay defensively aggressive as the clock wound down.

Bruin Dan White sank both ends of a one-and-one and then Lagod was fouled as he attempted a three-pointer from the side. He stepped to the line and calmly swished all three free throws and the Bruins were back even at 41-41 with 1:10 left in regulation.

Both teams had a chance to take charge and the lead in the final seconds but neither was able to pull it off in the frenzy of activity as the buzzer sounded to end regulation with the score knotted at 41-41.

Branham took a brief one-point lead early in the overtime period before the Rams moved ahead on a bucket by Will Robinson. He took the ball on the outside and drove through two Bruins to lay it in for the score. Robinson was key in the overtime as he hit another big bucket with 29 seconds left to stave off a Bruin comeback.

Willow Glen carried the fourth quarter momentum into the overtime and took control by outscoring the Bruins nine to four. The Rams took advantage of opportunities at the foul line tossing in five points. Justin Ble hit two, Ward put in one, and Rebagliati dropped in two to close out the game.

"They were hurting us on the offensive boards," Meeker said, "but we always seemed to have an answer when we needed it."

The game was tightly contested throughout. Branham played a very aggressive man-to-man defense, forcing Willow Glen to work hard to get good shots. The Rams were patient and moved the ball well until they could break someone free. On the other hand, the Rams threw a zone defense at the Bruins, forcing them into an outside game and keeping the ball away from Branham's 6-foot-7 center Derek Fletcher.

After the score was tied in the opening minutes at 2-2, the Bruins fell behind but kept battling back to get close on several occasions. Willow Glen, though, always seemed to come up with a stop or a good shot to hold them off. Finally, with 1:56 left in the half, Branham pulled even at 18-18.

It was the Rams' turn to fight back and they did just that. Branham couldn't connect in the final moments of the half but Willow Glen dropped in two unanswered buckets. Ahmed Falol hit a jumper for his only two points of the night and Rebagliati spun in the lane and put in an eight-footer to give the Rams a 22-18 lead at the intermission.

The third quarter was marred by turnovers and poor shooting by both squads. Neither team could find the right combination to take control. The quarter ended with Willow Glen holding a 28-25 advantage and setting the stage for the fireworks to come.

The Rams scoring was rounded out with Ward putting in nine points, Robinson six, Ble five and Hienock Habte two.

"Branham has become kind of a rival for us with so many of our kids knowing their kids," said Meeker. "Both teams were 4-1 coming in and it was an important win for us to stay in first place. It was great to win in overtime and very positive."

Willow Glen remains tied with Westmont for first place in the BVAL Santa Teresa Division race. Earlier in the week, Westmont handed the Rams their first loss in division play, 56-42. Both Ward (11 points) and Ble (10) scored in double digits in the losing cause.

"There are still a lot of games to play, but I see it as a three-team race with us, Branham and Westmont being the contenders," added Meeker.

Girls win two

The Willow Glen girls pushed their West Valley Division record to 5-1 with wins over Yerba Buena, 35-33, and San Jose Academy, 38-34, last week.

Mikka Dixon tossed in a team-high 11 points and Diana Schnabel and Candace Gallegos added eight apiece to lead Amy Gannon's Rams to the win over YB. Gallegos drilled a pair of three-pointers in the win.

Maja Johnson supported with six points and Kiley McKown had two.

Johnson had the hot hand with 12 points and McKown joined her in double digits with 10 in Willow Glen's win over San Jose. Schnabel and Corina Lopez had six points apiece in the win and Dixon added four.