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Last Updated: Mar 10th, 2008 - 14:47:55 |
The Redwoods men's basketball team grinded out a tough 71-59 win over Feather River on Saturday, which may have been all the Corsairs needed to extend their season.
Then again, maybe not.
CR's chances of making the playoffs perhaps hinged on the outcome of the game between second-placed Butte and conference leader Lassen, which was played hours after the Corsairs' game. Butte beat Lassen 80-71 and finished tied with CR tied for runner-up in the Golden Valley Conference, but the Roadrunners finished with an 18-8 overall record, compared to a 17-12 showing by the Corsairs.
At face value, it would appear that Butte would win any tiebreaker over CR, but the Corsairs' head coach, Jayson Vossler is confident that his team will present a tough case to the playoff selection committee when it chooses on Monday which 18 teams make the postseason.
”I think we have a good chance,” Vossler said. “We're right up there with those other teams that have 17 or 18 wins. We have a couple big preseason wins, we beat Los Medanos (79-72 for the Las Positas tournament title), and they have 24 wins.”
Redwoods, which won the GVC outright and advanced to the second round last year, also has two consolation championships to go along with the Las Positas title. Unlike last year, however, when then-CR head coach Skip Gleason traveled to the playoff meeting and lobbied for his team and conference, that responsibility will fall to Lassen head coach Ben Riley.
The entire process is out of CR's hands and the Corsairs knew it heading into Saturday's game. They came out playing like their performance could do something, anything, to sway voters into letting them into the playoffs.
Going up against Feather River's post players, Zachary Atkinson and Jourdain Scoubes, both of whom are 6-foot-8 or taller, CR's undersized forwards David Norton, Tim Pratt and Josh Hash battled down low, limiting them to a combined 22 points.
It was a strong defensive performance not expected of CR, which has allowed 80 or more points in 14 games, roughly half its schedule.
”You can't take it away from them. They were playing tough in the block,” CR guard Joe Smith said. “We've been out-sized all year, but we wanted to earn it. I think we earned this one.”
And Smith shouldered his load, too.
Smith, whose 16-point effort was second to Darren Nye's 19, finished with four steals and a had five consecutive CR points that put the game out of reach.
After hitting a pair of free throws to put CR up 61-53 with 3:14 left in the game, he nailed a 3 on an assist from Pratt a minute later that sealed a game ruled by free throws and bad shooting.
If it turns out to be CR's final game of the year, it shouldn't diminish what the team's sophomores, Nye and Tom Higgins accomplished during their Corsair careers.
Higgins, who had 12 points on Saturday, finished his career with 187 3-pointers, seventh all-time at CR. Nye, who was on track for MVP consideration this year, is CR's all-time assist leader with 281.
”They're great players, but they're great guys off the court, too,” Vossler said. “They go to class, they don't get in trouble and they come out here and do a great job. They're winners.
”I really would like to see us get into the playoffs for them.”
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There is Always Next Year: CR Men Narrowly Miss Playoffs
All he could do was sit and wait over the weekend, hoping for news that his team would embark on the road to postseason glory. Jayson Vossler knew he and his team did all they could to earn the right to lengthen their season with a playoff berth. Patiently he waited, and on Monday, he didn't get the news he wanted to hear.
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CR Men Make Case to Get In Playoffs, Knock Off Feather River
The Redwoods men's basketball team grinded out a tough 71-59 win over Feather River on Saturday, which may have been all the Corsairs needed to extend their season.
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