In a rematch of last year's state championship game, PG Perry Webster had 15 pts and ten different players scored for #6 Saddleback as the Gauchos (23-4, 8-2) stunned #3 Riverside, 57-53, to pull within a half-game of the Tigers (21-6, 9-2) at the top of the Orange Empire Conference.
Riverside, which topped Saddleback in overtime last March to win the state title, had the chance to wrap up at least a share of the OEC crown with a win at home. Instead, the Saddleback win reduces Riverside's lead in the OEC to a half-game over Saddleback and Irvine Valley, and the teams are even in the loss column, meaning it's likely Riverside will share the OEC title with whoever wins next Friday's showdown between Saddleback and Irvine Valley.
It was a tense, playoff-type game dominated by the defenses, with points difficult to come by in a noisy historic Wheelock Gym that included the 50-piece RCC marching band. Neither team led by more than nine points all night, and both teams shot less than 35% from the floor.
Riverside had a 5-3 lead early after a 3-pointer by SG Willie Trimble and a couple of free throws by Ctr Kevin Bradshaw. But Saddleback scored the game's next seven points to take a 10-5 lead as RCC missed 9 of its first 10 shots from the floor with Trimble's basket being the team's only field goal in the first seven minutes.
Riverside finally got baskets from PG Daniel Redmon and Bradshaw and tied the game at 10 at the 11:30 mark. But Saddleback got a 3-pointer from SG Tyler McManaman and a pair of free throws from SF T.J. Lipold to take a 15-10 lead. The Gauchos pushed the lead to seven points at 23-16 after a jumper by PF Nathan Gibbs and to nine points at 25-16 after a pair of free throws by PG DeAndre Myles with 4:33 left in the first half.
Riverside got within six points when SF Valentine Ike hit a 3-pointer to make it 30-24. Webster answered with a 3-pointer with about 15 seconds left in the half to make it 33-24, but Ike answered with another three as the halftime horn sounded, bringing Riverside within six points at 33-27 at the break.
When the second half began, Riverside continued to chip away at the Gaucho lead. A jumper by Trimble made it 33-29. Then a putback basket by SF Donovan Buford made it 33-31. Then a steal by Redmon, who poked the ball loose, led to a free throw by Ike that made it a one-point game at 35-34 with 15:31 left.
Saddleback pushed the lead back to five points at 41-36 with twelve minutes left, and led by five points again at 45-40 with just over ten minutes left.
Then points became even more difficult to come by, especially for Riverside as the Tigers went scoreless for nearly five minutes. One free throw by McManaman pushed Saddleback's lead to 46-40 with 9:07 left. Two free throws by Gibbs made it 48-40 with 6:48 left. Then one more free throw by Ctr Robert Curtis made it 49-40 with 6:15 left.
Finally, Riverside got a pair of free throws from Ike to break the drought, and then SG James Calhoun scored on a coast-to-coast lay-up to make it a five-point game at 49-44 with 3:54 left. Webster drove through the heart of the Tiger defense to make it 51-44, but Redmon and Trimble each hit jumpers to bring Riverside within three points at 51-48 with 2:10 left.
Saddleback pushed its lead back to five points when Webster fed Ctr Wendell Faines for a basket with 1:54 left to make it 53-48. Worse yet for Riverside, Bradshaw fouled out on the play, though Faines missed the resulting free throw. He more than made up for that moments later when he converted a pass from McManaman for a lay-up to make it 55-48 with 1:35 left.
Riverside still had some time left though, and Ike went to the free throw line with 1:03 left. He made the first free throw but missed the second; Webster got the rebound for Saddleback. However, Webster fell out of bounds (there was some contact...no harm, no foul, eh?), turning the ball back to Riverside. Then Ike again drew a foul, Faines' 5th, and made two free throws with 54.2 seconds left to make it 55-51.
At that point, Riverside had little choice but to foul. Saddleback got a free throw from SG Kyle Wallace with 39.7 seconds left, but Wallace missed the second shot. And that seemed for an instant to be quite significant when Ike hit a jumper from the top of the key with 28.4 seconds left for Riverside. The officials ruled, however, that Ike was outside the old 3-point line but inside the current line, resulting in a 2-point jumper that made it 56-53.
And that point turned out to be rather significant. Again, Riverside had to foul, and this time Lipold went to the line and, like Wallace, made one of his two free throws. That made it 57-53 with 26.8 seconds left, still a two-possession game.
Yet in those final 26.8 seconds, Riverside failed to score again. First Redmon, then Ike, then PF Andrew Fisk and finally Calhoun all had shots in the final seconds, but they all missed, and finally the time ran out and Saddleback had the win.
For Saddleback, Webster was the only scorer to reach double figures; he had 15 pts, 6 rebs and 4 asts. Faines and McManaman each had 9 pts and Curtis had 8 pts plus 9 rebs. Gibbs had 6 pts and 8 rebs.
For Riverside, Bradshaw had a double-double with 16 pts and a game-high 11 rebs. Ike came off the bench for a huge game with 16 pts and 7 rebs. Trimble had 8 pts and Redmon had 6 plus game-highs of 5 asts and 3 steals.
The win leaves Riverside at 9-2 in the OEC with a home game next Wednesday against Cypress still on the schedule. Saddleback improves to 8-2 and will face Santa Ana next Wednesday before the Friday showdown with Irvine Valley, who is 8-2 in the OEC and has beaten the Gauchos twice earlier this season, in Mission Viejo to close out the regular season.
box score
Friday, February 12, 2010 - 7:30 pm
at Wheelock Gym, Riverside
Orange Empire Conference
Saddleback Gauchos 57:
20-Perry Webster, PG - 6/10 fg, 2/2 ft, 6 reb, 4 ast, 1 stl, 3 pf, 15 pts
23-Nathan Gibbs, PF - 1/3 fg, 4/8 ft, 8 reb, 1 ast, 1 blk, 1 stl, 2 pf, 6 pts
24-T.J. Lipold, SF - 0/3 fg, 3/4 ft, 1 pf, 3 pts
31-Tyler McManaman, SG - 3/8 fg, 2/4 ft, 6 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl, 3 pf, 9 pts
35-Wendell Faines, C - 4/8 fg, 1/3 ft, 3 reb, 5 pf, 9 pts
34-Robert Curtis, C - 1/6 fg, 6/10 ft, 9 reb, 8 pts
12-Kyle Wallace, G - 0/5 fg, 1/2 ft, 1 reb, 1 stl, 2 pf, 1 pt
33-Sarunas Jackson, F - 0/1 fg, 2/2 ft, 3 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl, 2 pf, 2 pts
32-Devonier Braswell, G - 1/1 fg, 1 pf, 2 pts
10-DeAndre Myles, G - 0/1 fg, 2/2 ft, 1 ast, 2 pts
41-Vincent Hatter-Rolland, C - 1 pf, 0 pts
25-Johnel Gray, F - 1 reb, 0 pts
team rebounds: 8
Totals: 16/46 fg (.348), 23/37 ft (.622), 45 reb, 9 ast, 1 blk, 5 stl, 20 pf, 57 pts
3-pt fg (2): Webster, McManaman
Fouled Out: Faines 54.2 seconds left
Turnovers (12): Webster 4, Gibbs 2, Lipold, McManaman, Jackson, Braswell, Myles, team
Riverside Tigers 53:
10-Daniel Redmon, PG - 3/12 fg, 4 reb, 5 ast, 3 stl, 4 pf, 6 pts
11-Willie Trimble, SG - 3/7 fg, 1/2 ft, 1 reb, 2 ast, 1 pf, 8 pts
22-Kevin Bradshaw, C - 6/13 fg, 4/9 ft, 11 reb, 2 blk, 1 stl, 5 pf, 16 pts
24-Donovan Buford, SF - 2/6 fg, 0/2 ft, 4 reb, 1 ast, 2 pf, 4 pts
30-Davie Champagnie, PF - 0/2 fg, 2 pf, 0 pts
21-Orion Palmer, F - 2 reb, 2 pf, 0 pts
23-Jordan Richard, C - 0/2 fg, 2 reb, 1 blk, 2 pf, 0 pts
15-Andrew Fisk, F- 0/4 fg, 1/4 ft, 3 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl, 1 pf, 1 pt
32-Valentine Ike, F - 4/8 fg, 6/8 ft, 7 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl, 3 pf, 16 pts
2-James Calhoun, G - 1/2 fg, 2 ast, 4 pf, 2 pts
team rebounds: 6
Totals: 19/56 fg (.339), 12/25 ft (.480), 40 reb, 12 ast, 3 blk, 6 stl, 26 pf, 53 pts
3-pt fg (3): Ike 2, Trimble
Fouled Out: Bradshaw 1:54 left
Turnovers (12): Bradshaw 3, Redmon 2, Calhoun 2, Buford, Champagnie, Palmer, Fisk, Ike
Halftime Score: Saddleback 33, Riverside 27
Updated Records: Saddleback (#6-South, #12-Calif) 23-4 overall, 8-2 in OEC; Riverside (#3-South, #5-Calif) 21-6 overall, 9-2 in OEC
Saddleback had a 9-point lead after Riverside went scoreless for about five minutes midway through the second half. Riverside got within three points but never quite caught up
