A near-capacity crowd filled the Pitman High School gymnasium on Friday night for what turned out to be one of the best basketball games of the year between the hometown Pride and visiting Enochs, two teams tied atop the Central California Athletic League standings.

Pitman fans left their “hoopscoming” game frustrated while the Enochs contingent was ecstatic after the Eagles won a free throw contest with under three seconds left.

The score was knotted at 58 with 10 seconds left and the Pride with possession. After a timeout, star senior Avery Sanchez drove from the top of the key, missing a layup but drawing a foul with three seconds left. After he made one of two attempts, the Eagles quickly inbounding to the bottom of the key, where Pitman junior Sehaj Bassi was called for a foul on Enochs senior center Kila Day with 0.4 seconds as their arms got tangled battling for a rebound. Day made each free throw to put his team up 60-59, and time expired nearly immediately as the Pride inbounded under the basket.

“You know, I knew he was going to get at least one,” Enochs head coach Craig Bernardi said about Day heading to the line. “Number two, there was definitely a prayer in there.”

The Enochs student section stormed the court to celebrate their team moving to 7-1 overall against conference opponents. Meanwhile, Pitman head coach Harvey Marable and assistant Donovan Frank expressed their frustration with the officiating crew all the way to the locker rooms.

Marable and Frank had become increasingly frustrated with the officiating after Sanchez took an elbow to the face and another to the body while attempting a defensive rebound with just over a minute to play in regulation. They also felt that the foul call on Day was unwarranted.

Bernardi was similarly upset when Sanchez was sent to the line with three seconds left, as Pitman’s all-time leading scorer drove to his left and into defenders to draw the whistle.

“I don’t think that’s the ending either Harvey and I wanted,” Bernardi said. “I’m not real wild about how it ended because they played so hard, but at the same time, both kids made their free throws. They were pressure free throws, and that’s just how it worked out.”

Sanchez stared blankly across the court after returning from the locker room after the loss, which dropped the Pride to 6-2 in CCAL play.

“At the end of the day, it just comes down to executing down the stretch,” he said. “We made a couple mental mistakes defensively, and then the failure to finish the game out by hitting a free throw, it’s unfortunate.”

Sanchez led the Pride with 19 points, with a bulk coming in the second and third quarters. After starting 0-for-2, he made a layup and made a deep three under two minutes to play in the first half. His aggressiveness on defense led to a pair of steals and layups to open the second half. Nevertheless, they made up little ground, as the Eagles held onto a four-point heading into the fourth.

Enochs led for the majority of the game, though the lead was never more than six. Doing most of the damage in the first half was senior guard Mason Galvan and junior center Louie Dill.

Galvan was sharpshooting out of the gates, hitting four of six shot attempts from beyond the arc in the first half while also driving and finding teammates for three early assists. Dill was one of his most frequent recipients, making his first six shots of the night. All but one was a layup. The exception was a thunderous dunk that was preceded by a steal from Roshaun Belleza.

Dill finished with 15 points, while Galvan led all scorers with 19. Belleza pitched in 10 and Day’s late free throws pushed him to 11.

Aside from Sanchez, the only other Pitman player in double-digits was junior Cole Martin with 12. Martin was predominantly silent until the fourth quarter, when a three-pointer gave the Pride a 52-51 lead with just over four minutes to play. It was their first lead since four minutes to play in the first quarter. Martin extended the lead to 55-51 a minute later. Then, Galvan took over, driving for a layup. After a three from Pitman’s Abhiraj Cheema, Galvan responded with one of his own to cut the lead to 58-56 with 56 seconds to play. The two teams traded free throws on the ensuing possession before Belleza tied the game at 59 with a putback floater.

“It’s tough, but that’s basketball,” the always-optimistic Martin said.

CCAL play continues Monday with a full slate of games with postseason implications. The Pride will be back at the confines of their home gym at 7:30 p.m. when they welcome crosstown rival Turlock, who handed them their only other league loss of the year on Jan. 22 by a 56-47 score. The Bulldogs are 4-4 in league competition, and are coming off a 73-53 win over Downey on Friday.

“We put in a lot of time, and I think we’re mature enough to not let one game get us off track, so hopefully we regroup, come back, and keep playing Pitman basketball,” Sanchez said.

The Pride are now tied in second with Gregori, who will clash with the Eagles on Monday at Enochs.

“Gregori on Monday will be a war,” Bernardi said. “But if it turns out we tie with Pitman at the end of this, I can live with that, too. I have the utmost respect for Harvey and his teams.”