The Maywood Boys Basketball team has done it again. They came out victorious in yesterday’s quarterfinal playoff game versus Franklin High School with a score of 67-63 at Huntington Park High School.

Pictured: Damien Olmos  Photo by:Stefany Silva

This was not the first time Maywood and Franklin have gone head-to-head against each other. In fact, yesterday was the second time they played in HPHS’s gym this year, the first being a tournament game back in January where the Nighthawks defeated the Panthers 63-50.

Sebastian Villareal won the tip-off for Maywood, allowing them to be the first team to put points on the scoreboard thanks to Andrew Camarena’s layup to start the game off. Alongside Camarena and Villareal, Joshua Aguilera, Brian Gracian (co-captain), and Damien Olmos (captain) were the starting five for Maywood. Franklin’s starters were Manny Del Rosario, Alex Rayos, Justin Huertas, Justin Santizo, and Ricardo Solis. 

Maywood committed 6 fouls during the first half but managed to score a total of 34 points. Roman made all 5 of his free throws, but Camarena led the team with 9 points. Franklin committed 6 fouls. Both Bobadilla and Rayos made two 3 pointers each, helping with the 29 points Franklin had at the end of the first half. Suddenly in the third quarter, Maywood’s offense slowed. 

Del Rosario made two 3 pointers, helping Franklin become the leading team with a score of 47-42. Maywood committed 8 fouls, giving Franklin 9 opportunities to score on free throws; only 5 baskets were made. 

However in the fourth quarter, one of Maywood’s starters, Aguilera, fouled out. But, the Maywood Nighthawks still pulled through and scored 25 points. The Franklin Panthers were able to only score 16 points in 8 minutes. 

With five seconds left in the game, after Sebastian Villareal’s free throw shot was counted, Franklin’s 3-point attempt failed.

The leading scorer for Franklin was Many Del Rosario with 20 points, he was also 2-2 on free throw shots. For Maywood, the leading scorer was Damien Olmos with 18 points and 4-6 free throw shots. This is Olmos’ second high scoring game in a row.

This was the Panther’s last game of the 2019-2020 season. However, the Maywood Nighthawks will continue their journey towards the CIF LA City Section 2020 Boys’ Basketball Division 4 Championship. 

They will play against Robert F. Kennedy Community High School tomorrow, Saturday, February 22nd at 7:00 pm, in the semi-final game of this bracket. The game will take place at MaCES.