Silverado boys edge Coronado in final minute

Ruben Jackson was about 70 feet from his basket with time running down and his team trailing Coronado by a point on Wednesday.

The Silverado senior guard thought about putting his head down and pushing the ball down the floor for a final heave. But instead, he looked down court and found a wide-open teammate.

Jackson fired the ball to Jonathan Aman, who went in for an uncontested layup with five seconds to play to give the Skyhawks a 53-52 home victory.

"First I was thinking 'We've got to go.' " Jackson said. "Luckily I was able to hear Jon Aman, and he was breaking free. He was wide open, and at first I thought I overpassed it, but thank God I didn't. And he caught it and made the layup, and that was it."

Silverado (20-4, 11-2 Southeast League) never trailed until the final two minutes, when Coronado's Teyshawn Campbell drove and dished to 6-foot-11-inch Lamar Walker for a layup and a 50-48 Cougars lead.

A runner by Campbell put Coronado (12-8, 10-3) up 52-48 with 55 seconds to play, but Silverado got a 3-pointer from Justin Johnson with 38 seconds left to cut its deficit to a point.

The Skyhawks fouled Michael Louder with 14.1 seconds left. Louder missed the front end of the one-and-one, and there was a scramble for the loose ball. Coronado's J.P. Cadena saved the ball as it went out of bounds, but Silverado's Thomas McKay controlled it and got it to Jackson, who hit the streaking Aman for his only basket.

"Jonathan Aman is a track kid who is really fit," Silverado coach Martin Ferriter said. "I thought the difference was his fitness level on the floor ... at the end, because he beat everybody down the floor. He's a fast kid."

Jackson had 11 of his 15 points in the second half. Johnson scored 12, and David Ware had 12 points and nine rebounds for the Skyhawks.

The 6-9 Louder had 14 points and 11 rebounds, and Walker had 10 points, 12 rebounds and five blocked shots.

Contact prep sports editor Damon Seiters at dseiters@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-4587.