http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zb4m0xkGBrg
VISTA – In its biggest week of the regular season, No. 5 Rancho Buena Vista couldn’t have hoped for much better. The Longhorns knocked off No. 2 La Costa Canyon 73-66 at home on Friday night to sweep a tough six-day stretch and force a tie atop the Avocado West League.
“It means everything,” said Rancho Buena Vista guard Johnny Dee. “We kind of stole first place now because we won the last one in the series with La Costa Canyon.”
Dee finished with a game-high 35 points, but Rancho Buena Vista (21-3, 4-1 Avocado West) took the momentum late in the fourth quarter after he missed a three-pointer. Dee missed the rim, but Longhorns guard David Morris rebounded the miss and put it in falling away to give RBV a 64-62 lead with three minutes left.
“That was a bad shot on my part,” Dee said. “He got the rebound, he put that back and the momentum was on our side at that point.”
After LCC guard Matt Shrigley made a free throw to make it a one-point game with 2:18 left, Rancho Buena Vista went on an 8-0 run to put the game away. The Longhorns’ nine-point victory avenged a 71-55 loss at La Costa Canyon on Jan. 18.
“We were a little bit nervous and a little bit star struck about how they came out fast in the first game,” Dee said. “We were ready for them this game and we knew everything they did.”
Though the game was even throughout, La Costa Canyon had a slight advantage for most of the contest. The Mavericks led by two at the end of the first quarter and had a 33-29 lead at halftime after closing the second quarter on an 11-2 run.
“Offensively they run at a little bit slower pace and defensively they slow you down,” Dee said. “In the first have we didn’t have the transition game going.”
La Costa Canyon scored the first four points in the third quarter to take an eight-point lead, but Dee kept Rancho Buena Vista in the game on the offensive end. The senior scored nine of the Longhorns’ first 11 points in the second half after scoring nine points in the entire first half.
“I don’t know what was with me in the first half; I came in the locker room and I felt not involved,” Dee said. “I just tried to come out and do other things to get involved in the game.”
La Costa Canyon (20-4, 4-1) led 53-50 at the end of a third quarter played at Rancho Buena Vista’s fast pace. The Longhorns changed the flow of the game by speeding up its tempo.
“They tired a little bit and we just kept playing hard,” said Rancho Buena Vista coach Terry Miller.
Rancho Buena Vista still trailed 58-56 midway through the fourth quarter when Dee hit a pair of deep three-pointers that sent the home crowd into frenzy. Though La Costa Canyon quickly tied the game up, the Longhorns outlasted the Mavericks down the stretch to stay undefeated at home and cap a week in which they also beat La Jolla Country Day and El Camino at home.
“We’re a very good team at home,” Dee said. “Our crowd was going crazy tonight and that was the loudest I think this gym has ever been. That was a fun feeling.”
Guard Anthony Alston also finished in double figures for Rancho Buena Vista, adding 14 points. The Longhorns have won five in a row and kept their league title hopes alive with the win.
“We hope we can finish this out,” Miller said. “It’s ours to lose or ours to win.”
Senior forward Drew Kitchens led La Costa Canyon with 19 points, one of three starters in double figures. The loss snapped a five-game winning streak for the Mavericks.
Rancho Buena Vista – 73 (15-14-21-23)
Dee 35, Alston 14, Vaz 8, Morris 7, Vivier 5 (starters) Wood 2, Stong 2
La Costa Canyon – 66 (17-16-20-13)
Kitchens 19, Shrigley 18, Beery 11, Van Dyke 9, Travers 8 (starters) Sachrison 1
Rancho Buena Vista guard Anthony Alston drives against La Costa Canyon guard Jeff Van Dyke
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zb4m0xkGBrg
VISTA – In its biggest week of the regular season, No. 5 Rancho Buena Vista couldn’t have hoped for much better. The Longhorns knocked off No. 2 La Costa Canyon 73-66 at home on Friday night to sweep a tough six-day stretch and force a tie atop the Avocado West League.
“It means everything,” said Rancho Buena Vista guard Johnny Dee. “We kind of stole first place now because we won the last one in the series with La Costa Canyon.”
Dee finished with a game-high 35 points, but Rancho Buena Vista (21-3, 4-1 Avocado West) took the momentum late in the fourth quarter after he missed a three-pointer. Dee missed the rim, but Longhorns guard David Morris rebounded the miss and put it in falling away to give RBV a 64-62 lead with three minutes left.
“That was a bad shot on my part,” Dee said. “He got the rebound, he put that back and the momentum was on our side at that point.”
After LCC guard Matt Shrigley made a free throw to make it a one-point game with 2:18 left, Rancho Buena Vista went on an 8-0 run to put the game away. The Longhorns’ nine-point victory avenged a 71-55 loss at La Costa Canyon on Jan. 18.
“We were a little bit nervous and a little bit star struck about how they came out fast in the first game,” Dee said. “We were ready for them this game and we knew everything they did.”
Though the game was even throughout, La Costa Canyon had a slight advantage for most of the contest. The Mavericks led by two at the end of the first quarter and had a 33-29 lead at halftime after closing the second quarter on an 11-2 run.
“Offensively they run at a little bit slower pace and defensively they slow you down,” Dee said. “In the first have we didn’t have the transition game going.”
La Costa Canyon scored the first four points in the third quarter to take an eight-point lead, but Dee kept Rancho Buena Vista in the game on the offensive end. The senior scored nine of the Longhorns’ first 11 points in the second half after scoring nine points in the entire first half.
“I don’t know what was with me in the first half; I came in the locker room and I felt not involved,” Dee said. “I just tried to come out and do other things to get involved in the game.”
La Costa Canyon (20-4, 4-1) led 53-50 at the end of a third quarter played at Rancho Buena Vista’s fast pace. The Longhorns changed the flow of the game by speeding up its tempo.
“They tired a little bit and we just kept playing hard,” said Rancho Buena Vista coach Terry Miller.
Rancho Buena Vista still trailed 58-56 midway through the fourth quarter when Dee hit a pair of deep three-pointers that sent the home crowd into frenzy. Though La Costa Canyon quickly tied the game up, the Longhorns outlasted the Mavericks down the stretch to stay undefeated at home and cap a week in which they also beat La Jolla Country Day and El Camino at home.
“We’re a very good team at home,” Dee said. “Our crowd was going crazy tonight and that was the loudest I think this gym has ever been. That was a fun feeling.”
Guard Anthony Alston also finished in double figures for Rancho Buena Vista, adding 14 points. The Longhorns have won five in a row and kept their league title hopes alive with the win.
“We hope we can finish this out,” Miller said. “It’s ours to lose or ours to win.”
Senior forward Drew Kitchens led La Costa Canyon with 19 points, one of three starters in double figures. The loss snapped a five-game winning streak for the Mavericks.
Rancho Buena Vista – 73 (15-14-21-23)
Dee 35, Alston 14, Vaz 8, Morris 7, Vivier 5 (starters) Wood 2, Stong 2
La Costa Canyon – 66 (17-16-20-13)
Kitchens 19, Shrigley 18, Beery 11, Van Dyke 9, Travers 8 (starters) Sachrison 1
Rancho Buena Vista guard Anthony Alston drives against La Costa Canyon guard Jeff Van Dyke