The Dunsmuir Tigers rose up from their No. 11 seed in the Northern Section Division VI playoffs to knock off No. 6 Champion Christian Tuesday night in Chico.
Sophomore Jake Mekeel’s last second three-point shot went through the basket to tie the score at the end of regulation, 58-58.
The Tigers won it in overtime, 66-65, thanks in part to a play by Matt Norton. As described by coach Kale Riccomini, Norton stepped into a passing lane with less than a minute to play and the score tied, knocked the ball toward the baseline, ran it down, dove for it, then flipped it over his shoulder to LT Hisey who scored for a two-point Tiger lead.
“It was an incredible hustle play by Matt,” said Riccomini.
Mekeel, a sophomore, finished with 15 points on 5 three-pointers, 3 of them in the fourth quarter and 1 in overtime.
Hisey made 3 threes and scored 15; Nate Gonzales and Jordan VanWilgen scored 12 apiece and Norton 4.
Collin Lattanzio scored 4 points and had a team-high 7 rebounds. Zack Shirley had 5 rebounds and 4 points.
Now 10-13 for the season, Dunsmuir is scheduled to play at No. 3 Paradise Adventist (15-11) this Thursday night, Feb. 25, beginning at 7:30 p.m.
Champion Christian had dominated its opponents by winning their games by an average spread of 16.5 points.
Despite the Tigers’ sub-.500 record, Riccomini said, “I feel were as good as anybody in Division VI.”
He said the Tigers put together “a great defensive effort” Tuesday night, coming off a not-so-hot performance in their regular season finale against Happy Camp.
“We let Happy Camp drive to the basket, but Tuesday night we stopped them at the perimeter,” the coach said. “I’d rather force them to take three-point shots than let them have lay-ups. It was a great team effort.”
The Tigers trailed at half time, 28-22, then went on a 21-7 run in the third quarter to take a 43-35 lead. They led by as many as 18 points in the second half, but the lead disappeared in the fourth quarter.
After Champion scored with 10 seconds left to go up by 3, Riccomini said he chose not to take a time out.
“I was very confident our guys know what I wanted,” he said. “A lot of times teams celebrate after they score and you can get an extra split second to get into attack position. That’s what we did.”
Norton inbounded the ball to Nate Gonzales, who passed it back to Norton, who passed to Mekeel on the wing.
The pass to Mekeel was low, hit his shin and went inside the three-point line. Mekeel grabbed it, stepped back behind the line and put up his game-tying shot while falling back just before the buzzer sounded.
It went in off the glass much to the delight of the team and a large group of Tiger fans who made the trip south for the game.
Mekeel has led the Tigers in scoring this season, averaging 10.6 points per game.
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The Dunsmuir Tigers rose up from their No. 11 seed in the Northern Section Division VI playoffs to knock off No. 6 Champion Christian Tuesday night in Chico.
Sophomore Jake Mekeel’s last second three-point shot went through the basket to tie the score at the end of regulation, 58-58.
The Tigers won it in overtime, 66-65, thanks in part to a play by Matt Norton. As described by coach Kale Riccomini, Norton stepped into a passing lane with less than a minute to play and the score tied, knocked the ball toward the baseline, ran it down, dove for it, then flipped it over his shoulder to LT Hisey who scored for a two-point Tiger lead.
“It was an incredible hustle play by Matt,” said Riccomini.
Mekeel, a sophomore, finished with 15 points on 5 three-pointers, 3 of them in the fourth quarter and 1 in overtime.
Hisey made 3 threes and scored 15; Nate Gonzales and Jordan VanWilgen scored 12 apiece and Norton 4.
Collin Lattanzio scored 4 points and had a team-high 7 rebounds. Zack Shirley had 5 rebounds and 4 points.
Now 10-13 for the season, Dunsmuir is scheduled to play at No. 3 Paradise Adventist (15-11) this Thursday night, Feb. 25, beginning at 7:30 p.m.
Champion Christian had dominated its opponents by winning their games by an average spread of 16.5 points.
Despite the Tigers’ sub-.500 record, Riccomini said, “I feel were as good as anybody in Division VI.”
He said the Tigers put together “a great defensive effort” Tuesday night, coming off a not-so-hot performance in their regular season finale against Happy Camp.
“We let Happy Camp drive to the basket, but Tuesday night we stopped them at the perimeter,” the coach said. “I’d rather force them to take three-point shots than let them have lay-ups. It was a great team effort.”
The Tigers trailed at half time, 28-22, then went on a 21-7 run in the third quarter to take a 43-35 lead. They led by as many as 18 points in the second half, but the lead disappeared in the fourth quarter.
After Champion scored with 10 seconds left to go up by 3, Riccomini said he chose not to take a time out.
“I was very confident our guys know what I wanted,” he said. “A lot of times teams celebrate after they score and you can get an extra split second to get into attack position. That’s what we did.”
Norton inbounded the ball to Nate Gonzales, who passed it back to Norton, who passed to Mekeel on the wing.
The pass to Mekeel was low, hit his shin and went inside the three-point line. Mekeel grabbed it, stepped back behind the line and put up his game-tying shot while falling back just before the buzzer sounded.
It went in off the glass much to the delight of the team and a large group of Tiger fans who made the trip south for the game.
Mekeel has led the Tigers in scoring this season, averaging 10.6 points per game.
