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When the buzzer
sounded ending the first half the Darren Minami coached Reedley
Pirates may have thought they had tonight's game in hand.
After all, the Pirates had just applied their trademark defense to
the Roosevelt Rough Riders, holding the home team to just three
points in the second quarter. The scoreboard read
Reedley 35, Roosevelt 20.
As the half ended
the Pirates had already nailed six three point shots--four by Abel
Lucca--and the game appeared to be in hand. But Coach Al
Alvarado's Riders had other plans.
The Rough Riders
slowly began to climb back into the game, one basket at a time.
The Pirates, meanwhile, went cold from the field, not scoring
until under two minutes remained in the third quarter on a basket
by Jon Lepp off of an assist from Colin Hofer. The basket
gave the Pirates a 37-31 lead.
Early in the fourth
quarter Reedley stretched the lead to 43-32 when Lucca converted a
steal into an easy basket. But the Riders were not ready to
give up. Alvarado's squad mounted one last charge and
finally grabbed the lead 46-45. However, in their
excitement, the Riders slapped the ball away earning a technical
foul.
Jon Lepp sank the
two technical fouls and Jon Wallen followed with a layup to give
the PIrates a 49-46 advantage. Then, with the home crowd
roaring, the Riders converted two free throws of their own and
scored on a putback with 44 seconds remaining to take a 50-49
lead.
The lead was still
50-49 when Reedley advanced the ball up the court with 22 seconds
left in the game. With eight seconds remaining Lucca was
fouled on a drive to the basket. The Pirate senior calmly
sank both shots to give his team a 51-50 lead.
Roosevelt had one
last chance. The Pirates pressed full court and the
desperate Riders could only get off a desperation three point
attempt which fell short.
Thus Reedley opened
the NYL season with the slimmest of victories. The Pirates
are now 1-0 in NYL action and 13-2 overall.
On the night the
PIrates were paced by Lucca with 19, Wallen with 13, and Lepp with
eight points.
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