As of Friday night, the season has ended for all but one of southern Siskiyou County’s high school basketball teams.
Only the Dunsmuir Tiger boys team, maybe the least likely of them all, is moving into the second week of the Northern Section CIF playoffs.
The Tigers finished fourth in the Evergreen League, had a 9-13 regular season record and were seeded No. 11 in the 12-team Division VI postseason bracket. But after knocking off No. 6 Champion Christian and No. 3 Paradise Adventist, Dunsmuir is advancing to play in the semifinals at No. 7 Maxwell Tuesday night, March 2.
For more about the Tigers see:
PHOTO GALLERY: Dunsmuir road warriors advance to DVI semifinals
and
Tigers win playoff opener on the road Tuesday night
Weed High School’s boys and Mount Shasta High School’s boys and girls teams, who all won Shasta Cascade League co-championships in 2010, have finished their seasons.
Weed, seeded No. 2 in Division V, lost in the quarterfinal round at home to No. 10 Redding Christian Friday night, 67-62.
Mount Shasta’s boys, the No. 6 seed in Division IV, lost their quarterfinal game to Central Valley Friday night at Shasta Lake, 49-41.
The Mount Shasta girls took their No. 10 seed to No. 7 West Valley in Cottonwood and lost in the first round Tuesday night, 55-36.
Cougars stopped
Weed had little trouble winning its playoff opener Wednesday night over Biggs, 68-34, but then fell behind Redding Christian early in Friday night’s quarterfinal game in Weed.
The Cougars trailed, 27-13, early in the second quarter, came back to tie the game after three quarters, led briefly, but couldn't hold on and fell to the Lions, 67-62.
Weed senior Robert Gonzales scored 15 of his 19 points in the first half, most of them in the second quarter.
A 54-52 four-quarter Cougar lead disappeared when Redding Christian made three baskets in a row.
Robert West’s three-pointer with 2:30 remaining got the Cougars within 3 at 63-60, but then Lion center Andrew Baxter hit a turnaround jumper and the lead was 5.
The 6-foot-5 Baxter hurt the Cougars early and late and finished with 32 points.
The Cougars showed the kind of determination that helped them post a 20-7 overall record and win the school's first boys basketball championship in 21 years.
Junior Jake West took the ball to the basket often in the second half and was a force on the boards.
Senior Robert West scored 13 points and senior Tanner Shelton 10, both contributing key three-point shots during the third quarter rally.
Weed is the only top 4 seed in Division V that isn’t advancing to Wednesday’s semifinal round.
Redding Christian will play at No. 3 Liberty Christian, which defeated No. 6 Tulelake Friday night.
No. 4 Trinity, which finished third in the SCL behind co-champions Weed and Mount Shasta, earned its semifinal spot on a shot at the buzzer for a two-point win over No. 5 Fall River Friday night.
Trinity will face No. 1 Hamilton in the other semifinal.
