The Riverside Press-Enterprise
Basketball
clock put Rancho Verde ahead 20-14 after the opening quarter.
Rancho Christian trailed 28-19 in the second period, but the Eagles rallied and tied the score on two separate occasions. Rancho Verde answered with a 7-2 run over a span of 80 seconds, culminated by a 3-point play from Semaj Carter, to take a 3934 lead at halftime.
Rancho Christian came out of the half on a 5-0 run and tied the score
once again at 39. However, Hampton connected on a 3-pointer after the Mustangs broke Rancho Christian’s full-court trapping defense to help Rancho Verde regain the lead. The Mustangs then struck three times from beyond the arc over a span of 100 seconds, including a nearly half-courter from Washington as time expired, to stretch their lead to a game-high 14 points after three quarters.
“We’re a tough team that plays hard, and I feel like we can definitely do some damage in (the CIF Southern Section) Division 1 (playoffs),” Washington said. “It was disappointing
losing to them in the first game, but tonight we were locked in against a quality team and we’ll have to be again on Wednesday to bring this title home.”
A 3-pointer by Kesse-beda helped Rancho Christian get within nine points with six minutes left to play, but the Eagles got no closer.
Washington led Rancho Verde with 22 points, while Trestyne Nguru and Hampton added 18 and 16 points, respectively, for the Mustangs.
Jayden Smoot and Kesse-beda led Rancho Christian with 16 points apiece, while Brian Amunueke added another 14 points for the Eagles.