On Dec. 6, 2024, the Foothill Technology High School (Foothill Tech) boys basketball team faced off against Santa Clara High School (Santa Clara) with the home-court advantage at the Ventura College (VC) Athletic Center. Foothill Tech snapped a four-game losing streak with a huge run, deep in the fourth quarter, to seal the game 53-44 for their second win of the season.
After winning the tipoff, Foothill Tech went right to work on the offensive side of the court. Nick Turner ‘26 and Ashton Brown ‘26 got the night started for the Dragons with a free throw and a layup to take an early 3-0 lead.
After a moderately slow start, Aiden Gomez ‘25 and Erik Hernandez ‘26 each hit three-pointers, however, both shots were answered quickly by Santa Clara to keep the first quarter within reach 9-8. Brody Baker ‘26 ended the quarter for Foothill Tech with a wide-open mid-range jump shot to make it 14-11.
Turner and Brown filled the second quarter with highlights as they did most of Foothill Tech’s scoring. The Dragons went on a hot 12-4 scoring run capped off with an and-one by Brown and a deep three-pointer from Turner.
Santa Clara would not let the game get out of hand as they answered with a short 6-0 scoring outburst to bring the game back into control 26-21. Their momentum was unfortunately stopped however as there was a short dispute on the sideline with technical fouls handed out. The first half came to a close with Foothill Tech on top, 29-21
Following the halftime break, Santa Clara found their rhythm again and went on an intimidating 13-5 scoring run, which added onto their run before the break. The Dragons found themselves in a tie game situation 34-34 with the third quarter coming to an end.
Turner and Brown, unwilling to give the game away, answered with a three-pointer and a layup out of a timeout to end the quarter 39-36.
Subsequent to a small third-quarter scare, Foothill Tech showed their winning spirit to close out the game in dominant fashion. As Santa Clara scored the first points of the fourth quarter, Foothill Tech geared up for a 10-0 scoring run highlighted by a save from Enzo Rivera ‘27 to a three-point jump shot by Luigirey Guce ‘25 and an and-one layup by Philip Blessum ‘25.
Blessum commented on the teams’ strength, “a lot of things were working well for us, on-ball defense generally was pretty good.”
Santa Clara tried to close the gap with a few three-pointers of their own, but it was too late as the buzzer sounded with Foothill Tech in the lead 53-44..
Head coach Jamaal Brown spoke on the teams’ performance in the fourth quarter, “I was super impressed with the way that we took care of the ball down the stretch … we got stops on the defensive end.”
Foothill Tech looks to use their newfound momentum on Dec. 9, where they face off against a challenging Buena High School on their home court.
