Boys Basketball: Jesus Zermeno, Mike Leazer lead Northdridge in OT win

Updated: December 3, 2011 11:32PM

Northridge Prep rallied from a nine point third-quarter deficit to defeat North Shore County Day 48-46 in overtime in the Independent League opener Saturday night in Niles.

The Knights, winner of the “Battle of the Bulge” Thanksgiving Tournament, ran their overall record to 5-0.

Northridge won the game from the foul line in the final and overtime periods, converting 7 of 8 and 10 of 14 for the game. The backcourt tandem of Jesus Zermeno and Mike Leazer both converted clutch free throws down the stretch to preserve the win. Northridge Prep trailed 30-21 late in the third quarter when James Stoll made a basket and two foul shots to close out the period with the Raiders leading 30-25.

The Knights’ momentum carried forward into the fourth quarter, scoring 11 straight points to take a 36-30 lead. North Shore broke their scoring drought when Jake Bruce sunk a long three-pointer. Bruce’s three point sharp shooting put North Shore ahead 41-38 with two minutes left.

Northridge Prep tied the score with 51 seconds left on a three by Leazer. The two teams failed to score the remainder of the game and the outcome had to be determined in overtime.

The Knights jumped out to a 45-41 lead in the extra period on a basket by Zermeno and two foul shots by Leazer. Bruce made it 45-43 and Leazer increased the Northridge lead to 48-43 with three foul shots. Bruce canned a long three with 1.7 on the clock, making it 48-46 when time ran out.

“We worked really hard for this win”, said Northridge Prep’s head coach Will Rey. “We played tonight short-handed. We had some injuries in the four day Thanksgiving Tournament and we had some players out of position. I give North Shore a lot of credit. They always play us tough. They beat us last year on our home court.”

Bruce led all-scores with 22 points and the Knights in their balanced scoring had three players in double digits, Leazer had 18, Zermeno 16 and Stoll 12.

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