LA PUENTE — If Bishop Amat freshman Aiden Shaw was bothered by picking up two early fouls and struggling to find his rhythm in the first half, he didn’t show it.

Shaw responded by scoring 15 of his game-high 19 points in the second half and took over in the fourth quarter to help Bishop Amat (15-4)escape with a 52-51 victory over Salesian in a Camino Real League boys basketball opener Monday night.

“It was big, it was my first league game as a freshman and I’m happy we won the game,” Shaw said. “We shared the ball, played defense and got the win.”

Shaw hit four straight free throws in the final 16 seconds to close it out.

“I shoot about 10 free throws a game, so I’m used to it,” Shaw said.

Shaw scored 11 of the Lancers’ 12 fourth-quarter points and gave them a 48-46 lead with 1:46 left on a drive to the basket.

After Salesian tied the score 48-48 with 30 seconds left, Shaw was fouled and hit both free throws with 16 seconds left for a 50-48 lead

With Salesian (10-8) trying to go for the tie or game-winning shot in the final seconds, Shaw came up with a steal with two seconds left and was fouled. Shaw hit both free throws for a 52-48 lead to seal it.

Salesian’s Noah Castaneda hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to set the final score, 52-51.

“We have one senior, so sometimes it’s good to go through these types of games and come out with a win, so we’ll take it,” Bishop Amat coach Brandon Ertle said.

Ertle was impressed by how Shaw handled the big moments in a tight game.

“He played really well, especially down the stretch,” Ertle said of Shaw, who leads the team by averaging 18 points a game. “He was getting the ball to the basket and playing defense too.

“But I think as a group we played pretty well defensively throughout. They (Salesian) were tough, they never went away, they just kept fighting back.”

Bishop Amat’s Cristian Chavira finished with 13 points and Eli Chavez had 10 points to give the Lancers three players in double figures for scoring.

After Salesian took a 24-23 lead at half, the Lancers started the third quarter with an 11-0 run to take a 34-24 lead. During that stretch Shaw threw back-to-back, cross-court passes to Chavira for two consecutive 3-pointers, followed by Shaw’s steal and a basket.

Salesian rallied back behind forward/center Noah Castaneda, who scored eight straight points to give the Mustangs a 43-42 lead with 4:50 left.

Castaneda, who finished with 17 points, fouled out with 1:58 left, and Shaw took over the rest of the way to close it out.

Shu Kaneko led the Mustangs in scoring with 18 points.

“We did a good job in the first half on him (Castaneda), but he was really good in the second half,” Ertle said. “We fouled him a little too much, but he’s a good player.”

Salesian used a 5-0 run to take an 11-7 lead in the first quarter, but Amat’s Chavez answered with a 3-pointer and the Lancers had a 14-13 lead to end the quarter.

Bishop Amat scored six straight points to take a 23-18 lead with 1:05 left in the period.

Salesian’s Kaneko countered with a 3-point play and then Ben Hernandez nailed a 3-pointer at the buzzer to give the Mustang’s a 24-23 lead at half.