After winning only 4 of their first 23 games, College of the Siskiyous’ men’s basketball team finished the 2009-10 season with 2 wins in a row, including Saturday night’s 87-80 upset of Shasta College in front of a large and vocal crowd in Weed.
“That was a big win for the program and myself,” said Eagle coach Kyle Heath, who moved up from assistant to head coach during the season and has made no secret about his desire to remain in the position.
Heath said finishing the season with two wins, including a 68-66 victory at Lassen in Susanville last Wednesday, “means we go into the offseason with a good taste in our mouth.”
Shasta came to Weed Saturday night needing a victory to assure itself of a Golden Valley Conference championship. Turned out that the Knights earned a share of the title anyway, because Redwoods defeated Feather River to leave all three of those teams tied for first at 7-3.
But the Eagles take some satisfaction in contributing to Shasta’s lowered spot in the postseason seedings, Heath said.
The Eagles fell behind Saturday night, 8-0, then Heath called a time out, then the momentum turned.
Aggressive offensive play by freshman Al Alexander, who was named to the first team all-GVC list when coaches met over the weekend, helped the Eagles take the lead and build it to 37-14 by half time.
It helped too, as Heath pointed out, that Shasta got into some foul trouble, in part because of Alexander’s drives to the basket.
Another freshman, Dion Owens, also scored on drives into the paint and contributed 10 points in the first half.
Heath said Owens, one of several players suspended for returning late from winter break, has been one of the top performers in practice all season. He finally made his mark in games in the final week, the coach said.
The Eagles made the most of their free throw opportunities against Shasta, hitting 36 of 47 as a team.
Freshman Ray Featherston was 13 for 14 from the foul line and finished with 24 points.
Alexander and freshman Dylan Griffin of Shasta Lake both scored 15 points and both went 7-for-10 from the line.
Griffin, who averaged 12.5 points and 6 rebounds per game, earned honorable mention on the all-GVC team.
Alexander, who came to COS from Brooklyn, NY, averaged 9 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals per game. “He was our glue,” Heath said of Alexander. “Whenever I needed something, he was there.”
Freshman Lionel Delisca, from Miramar, Fla., made the GVC all-defensive team. He averaged 10 points, 8 rebounds and 2 blocks.
An undersized post player at 6-foot-4 and 205 pounds, Delisca was one of the Eagles’ success stories this season, according to Heath. He was suspended after the first conference game, then returned to the team after a meeting with the coach. “He responded,” Heath said of Delisca. “He came back and became the best teammate.”
Saturday was Sophomore Night in the COS gym, and the only two sophomores on the roster, Brandon Eller of Yreka and Eric Johnson of Yuba City, were recognized before the game and in the starting lineup.
Johnson made a basket off a steal and Eller scored 3 points.
Heath also praised the effort of Phil Antoine, a 6-6 freshman from Miramar who only played in four conference games but came on at the end of the season. “He doesn’t realize his potential,” Heath said of Antoine. “The Shasta coaches noticed him. He altered shots and got rebounds at Lassen.”
The Eagles won at Lassen thanks to what Heath described as “our best team play of the year.”
Trailing by a point after a Lassen three-pointer in the closing seconds, Alexander ran the baseline and threw an inbounds pass to Luke Cassedy, who passed to Owens at half court, who threw a bounce pass on the money to Griffin on a 2-on-1 break. Griffin scored and got fouled to put the Eagles up by 1. He missed his free throw, but the Eagles got the ball back and Cassedy made a free throw for the final margin of victory.
Griffin finished with 14 points, Cassedy 12, Featherston 10, Antoine 9 and Delisca 8.
The Eagles finished the season 3-7 in league.
“I’ve been stressing family, playing together and believing in each other,” Heath said. “The guys responded, and we played our best basketball at the end. Hopefully it’s a motivating factor all spring and fall. I hope to have a lot of sophomores back next year.”
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After winning only 4 of their first 23 games, College of the Siskiyous’ men’s basketball team finished the 2009-10 season with 2 wins in a row, including Saturday night’s 87-80 upset of Shasta College in front of a large and vocal crowd in Weed.
“That was a big win for the program and myself,” said Eagle coach Kyle Heath, who moved up from assistant to head coach during the season and has made no secret about his desire to remain in the position.
Heath said finishing the season with two wins, including a 68-66 victory at Lassen in Susanville last Wednesday, “means we go into the offseason with a good taste in our mouth.”
Shasta came to Weed Saturday night needing a victory to assure itself of a Golden Valley Conference championship. Turned out that the Knights earned a share of the title anyway, because Redwoods defeated Feather River to leave all three of those teams tied for first at 7-3.
But the Eagles take some satisfaction in contributing to Shasta’s lowered spot in the postseason seedings, Heath said.
The Eagles fell behind Saturday night, 8-0, then Heath called a time out, then the momentum turned.
Aggressive offensive play by freshman Al Alexander, who was named to the first team all-GVC list when coaches met over the weekend, helped the Eagles take the lead and build it to 37-14 by half time.
It helped too, as Heath pointed out, that Shasta got into some foul trouble, in part because of Alexander’s drives to the basket.
Another freshman, Dion Owens, also scored on drives into the paint and contributed 10 points in the first half.
Heath said Owens, one of several players suspended for returning late from winter break, has been one of the top performers in practice all season. He finally made his mark in games in the final week, the coach said.
The Eagles made the most of their free throw opportunities against Shasta, hitting 36 of 47 as a team.
Freshman Ray Featherston was 13 for 14 from the foul line and finished with 24 points.
Alexander and freshman Dylan Griffin of Shasta Lake both scored 15 points and both went 7-for-10 from the line.
Griffin, who averaged 12.5 points and 6 rebounds per game, earned honorable mention on the all-GVC team.
Alexander, who came to COS from Brooklyn, NY, averaged 9 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals per game. “He was our glue,” Heath said of Alexander. “Whenever I needed something, he was there.”
Freshman Lionel Delisca, from Miramar, Fla., made the GVC all-defensive team. He averaged 10 points, 8 rebounds and 2 blocks.
An undersized post player at 6-foot-4 and 205 pounds, Delisca was one of the Eagles’ success stories this season, according to Heath. He was suspended after the first conference game, then returned to the team after a meeting with the coach. “He responded,” Heath said of Delisca. “He came back and became the best teammate.”
Saturday was Sophomore Night in the COS gym, and the only two sophomores on the roster, Brandon Eller of Yreka and Eric Johnson of Yuba City, were recognized before the game and in the starting lineup.
Johnson made a basket off a steal and Eller scored 3 points.
Heath also praised the effort of Phil Antoine, a 6-6 freshman from Miramar who only played in four conference games but came on at the end of the season. “He doesn’t realize his potential,” Heath said of Antoine. “The Shasta coaches noticed him. He altered shots and got rebounds at Lassen.”
The Eagles won at Lassen thanks to what Heath described as “our best team play of the year.”
Trailing by a point after a Lassen three-pointer in the closing seconds, Alexander ran the baseline and threw an inbounds pass to Luke Cassedy, who passed to Owens at half court, who threw a bounce pass on the money to Griffin on a 2-on-1 break. Griffin scored and got fouled to put the Eagles up by 1. He missed his free throw, but the Eagles got the ball back and Cassedy made a free throw for the final margin of victory.
Griffin finished with 14 points, Cassedy 12, Featherston 10, Antoine 9 and Delisca 8.
The Eagles finished the season 3-7 in league.
“I’ve been stressing family, playing together and believing in each other,” Heath said. “The guys responded, and we played our best basketball at the end. Hopefully it’s a motivating factor all spring and fall. I hope to have a lot of sophomores back next year.”
