It would be pretty tough to top how the Chabot men's basketball team started the 2023-24 season.
The Glads were pushed to the limit, but prevailed in the championship game of the 1st annual John L. Wagoner Classic at Gladiator gym, defeating Fresno City 117-116 in an epic triple-overtime contest.
Noah Thomas, a sophomore guard from Chico, went coast-to-coast for a layup with 1.8 seconds left to give Chabot the lead for good. His basket capped a 33-point effort, earning him Most Valuable Player of the tournament.
Zach Broadous, a sophomore guard from Los Angeles, added 22 points and Marcellus Edwards, a freshman guard from San Francisco, finished with 18. Broadous and Edwards were named to the all-tournament team as well.
''These guys have showed early on so far that they can still hang in there and pull out a gutsy win like that did tonight,'' said Chabot head coach Keenan McMiller, in his fifth season. "This group of players have so much toughness in them, especially mentally, and they would not panic.''
The Gladiators (3-0), ranked ninth in the state and fifth in NorCal, leave on Wednesday for a two-game trip against San Diego City and Fullerton in the San Diego City Shootout.
Chabot will follow that up with a trip to Los Angeles the following week for three more games.
"The trips will give us a chance to bond as a team," McMiller added.
Both teams got out of the gate a bit slow offensively, but an 8-4 run to close out the first half gave the Rams a 41-34 lead.
The Gladiators then had runs of 6-0 and 10-3 to take a 67-60 advantage with eight minutes left.
Chabot would see its lead grow to eight at 78-70 before Fresno City responded with a 13-2 run of its own to grab the lead at 83-80 with less than a minute remaining in the second half.
Thomas answered with a layup and was fouled, making the free throw with 45.8 seconds left to force overtime.
Fresno City (2-1), ranked 18th in the state and eighth in NorCal, scored the first four points in OT, but the Gladiators answered with a 11-4 run to take a 94-91 lead with 27.4 seconds left. After two Rams' free throws, Thomas split a pair from the line before James Prescott hit a short jumper to force a second overtime at 95-all.
Trailing 107-105, Thomas knotted the game once again with a strong finish to the basket with 12 seconds left in the second OT.
Malik Kaba stepped up to reject a shot inside the paint in the final seconds to force a third overtime for Chabot. Kaba finished with eight blocks and five rebounds.
"Kaba had a great presence inside the key fo us tonight,'' McMiller said. "His blocks came at key moments for us."
The third extra session offered more drama as both teams traded baskets for most of the period before Yigit Sari went inside for a basket with 6.0 seconds left to give the Rams a 116-115 lead.
Thomas took the inbounds pass and drove all the way to the basket to give the Gladiators the lead one final time.
Fresno City was unable to get a shot off on a desperation inbounds pass, and the Gladiators finally had a chance to celebrate the championship.
Makaio Mims (14 points) and Nikko Rodriguez (12) finished in double-figures scoring off the bench for Chabot.