Knights Advance to Elite Eight!!!

The No. 2 seed Knights are headed to the 3C2A state championship quarterfinals for the first time since 2018 after edging out No. 10 seed Allan Hancock, 64-61, in overtime with Alex Crawford hitting the biggest 3-pointer of the season with 1:20 left to put City ahead for good.

The Knights (26-4), who have won a season-high 10 games in a row, will play Northern California's No. 3 seed Yuba College at 1 p.m. on Friday March 15 at Mt. San Antonio College where the state quarterfinals, semifinals, and final will be held. 

Saturday night's Southern California regional final against Allan Hancock was a struggle throughout with the Knights shooting a season-low 35.7%.

As they did in the second round game against Pasadena, the Knights got off to a slow start offensively. They missed their first eight shots and didn't score a point until KJay Bradley made a pair of free throws 6:03 into the game. The Knights finally scored a bucket 33 seconds later on a Keavie Love layup.

The Allan Hancock Bulldogs, meanwhile, scored the first seven points of the game and held the lead for most of the first half until the Knights used a 12-3 run to take a 24-20 lead with 2:31 left in the half. 

Bradley scored seven of his 13 first half points during that run to help the Knights go into the halftime break with a 24-23 advantage. 

Allan Hancock went ahead 32-29 early in the second half after a layup by Taevon Pierre-Louis who had a game-high 20 points and 14 rebounds, but the Knights responded with a 12-2 outburst to grab their largest lead of the game, 41-34, with 13:13 remaining in regulation. Kevin Moore and Crawford knocked down City's first two 3s of the game during that run.

The Bulldogs fought back and eventually tied the game at 47-47 with 4:36 left on an Assad Masdassalia put-back. 

It was back-and-forth the rest in those final minutes of the second half with neither team able to go ahead by more than two points. 

After a steal by Love, his fourth of the game, Al Green was fouled in transition and hit two free throws to put the Knights ahead, 54-52, with 20 seconds left. 

On the other end, Mylo Santos' jumper in the lane was off the mark, but got his own rebound in the air and laid in the game-tying bucket with 1.3 seconds on the clock.

Crawford had a chance at the game-winner after catching Moore's inbound pass just inside the 3-point line, but could not get it to fall.

In overtime, Santos put Allan Hancock ahead by a point on another layup with 2:40 remaining. City's Crawford tied it on the other end after making one of his two free throw attempts.

Allan Hancock committed 24 turnovers on Saturday night, including two on their next two possessions. On the second one, Crawford got the steal after deflecting an entry pass, which set up the biggest play of the night.

Green drove into the lane from the left side with the defense collapsing on him as he reached the restricted zone, but found a wide-open Crawford in the corner with a left-handed pass as he was falling. Crawford then calmly drained the 3-pointer with 1:20 left to give City a 62-59 lead.

Pierre-Louis got Hancock within a point after his put-back with 57 seconds left. The Bulldogs had several chances to regain the lead down the stretch, but missed two layups and committed another turnover.

With 13 seconds left, Green converted a pair of free throws to give the Knights a 3-point lead. 

Hancock had one last opportunity to send the game into double overtime, but Santos' jumper with his foot on the 3-point line, missed and the Knights celebrated in front of the loudest home crowd of the season.

Green had a team-high 17 points to go with four rebounds, three steals, and two blocks. Crawford ended up with 12 points, four steals, and two blocks in 43 minutes.

Allan Hancock outrebounded the Knights by 18, and had a 20-10 advantage on offensive rebounds. The Knights, however, had 17 steals, their second-highest total of the season, and made 84% (21-for-25) from the free throw line, while Hancock made only 12 of their 22 free throw attempts (54.5%).

The win puts the Knights into the elite eight for the first time since 2018 when they advanced all the way to the state championship final. They also made it in 2017 when they eventually won the state title, and in 2009 when they were eliminated in the quarterfinals. 

All four elite eight appearances have occurred under head coach Mitch Charlens, who won his 375th game on Saturday.

In the 3C2A quarterfinals set for Friday, March 15 at 1 p.m., the Knights will play Yuba (28-2) for the second time this season. They previously met in the Grossmont College tournament championship game on Dec. 3 with the Knights prevailing, 71-69. Yuba lost their next game as well, but has won 22 straight since. 

The winner will advance play either West Valley (30-0) or Cerro Coso (25-6) in the semifinals on Saturday, March 16 at 5 p.m. 

Admission for the remainder of the state tournament at Mt. San Antonio College is $12 for the general public and $8 for students, faculty, staff, senior citizens age 60 and over, and children less than 12 years of age.

Friday's quarterfinal will be broadcast live by BAOSN. There is a $12 per day fee for the live stream.

3C2A State Championship Bracket