From College of the Redwoods
Feather River Defeats Men's Basketball
By Neil Tarpey/Times-Standard
Feb 9, 2009, 09:11
For 30 minutes, the Redwoods men's basketball team looked primed to beat the best.
The Corsairs led by one point at halftime, and then, down by five with 10 minutes left in the game, regained the lead on two short buckets by Ren Bettendorf and a jumper by Matt Millar.
But CR's lead was short-lived and, for the Corsairs, the game went south right after that, as Feather River quickly demonstrated why it's atop the Golden Valley Conference.
First, the visitors' Larry Howard hit a long jump shot to recapture the lead.
Next, the Golden Eagles' 6-foot-7 center Chris Ferguson elevated in the low post and extended his right arm for a dunk-back of a teammate's missed shot that not only shook the backboard but woke up his team.
Feather River went on to an 87-79 victory on Saturday, making them 6-1 in the GVC and 10-10 overall, while CR fell to 3-4, 14-10.
Howard ended up with a team-high 21 points, while Ferguson finished with 13.
Donnie Kidd (14), Daryl Edge (11) and Archie Kovich (10) also scored in double-digits for the Golden Eagles.
Howard was not the only Golden Eagle with a good outside shooting touch, as Kovich bombed in two NBA-distance 3-pointers in the opening 10 minutes of the second half.
”In the second half we made a couple of mistakes on D and they capitalized,” said Mendoza.
”They hit some tough jump shots. They're in first place for a reason,” he added.
To the Corsairs credit, Howard's jumper and Ferguson's sky-slam did not alter the home team's hustle and determination during the remainder of the contest.
Exhibit A: Tim Pratt.
Immediately following Ferguson's thunder shot, CR's 6-foot-6 sophomore answered with a low-post bucket that gave the Corsairs an emotional boost.
Pratt finished with a game-high 27 points, exhibiting speed, mobility and a soft touch to complement his size.
Dom Brinson (12) and Millar (11) also scored in double digits for Redwoods.
On defense, Renell Gary displayed good hustle, making several steals, while Eli Graham provided weak-side help coming over for a shot block.
”We competed, played hard, but ran out of gas a little,” said Mendoza.
CR has three remaining GVC games, and hits the road for two of them next week, playing Siskiyous in Weed on Thursday and Butte in Oroville on Saturday.
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