Redwoods routs Siskiyous, takes control
Redwoods routs Siskiyous, takes 2-game lead in GVC
When you have the arm of a high school state champion quarterback, you tend to want to use it.
Zac Claus let fly a full-court pass which dropped into the arms of an unguarded Blake Rossman, who converted an easy layup to cap off an 18-6 Corsairs run with 6:29 to play in the first half.
The run gave the home team a 9-point lead — and the Corsairs didn’t look back.
Drew Gillette scored 28 points, Thomas Nelson poured on 25 more and the Corsairs nearly cracked 100 as the College of the Redwoods men’s basketball team extended its winning streak — currently the third-longest in the state — to 12 games with a 96-71 dismantling of visiting Golden Valley Conference foe Siskiyous, Wednesday night at CR.
Wednesday’s 96 points and 25-point margin of victory both count as season-bests for Redwoods (17-3, 4-0), which now holds a 2-game advantage over second-place Butte (12-7, 2-1) in the GVC with six games left to play.
By every measurable Redwoods is playing its best basketball of the season, but head coach Ryan Bisio was able to narrow down the list of reasons behind his club’s dominant play.
“We’re playing with joy right now,” the coach said.
Bisio pointed to Claus’ fullcourt assist — one of many assists by the former Fortuna High athlete on the night — as an “illustration” of the freedom and joy his team is playing with.
Claus, who on Saturday made seven 3-pointers and scored 24 points in Redwoods’ 80-68 win at Lassen (4-13, 0-3), got Nelson going early in the
second half with a pair of beautifully placed assists.
Nelson also pulled up from well behind the arc and connected on a 3-pointer early in the second half to help Redwoods, which went into the break with a 41-34 lead, mount a quick 15-8 run to take a 56-42 lead with 16:15 to play.
“I play better when I love the game, so that’s what
I tried to get back to this week,” Nelson said.
From that point on Redwoods never led by less than double-digits. Gillette made four of his six 3-pointers in the second half to help Redwoods stretch out its lead to as much as 28 points (9062) before the final buzzer.
On the night Redwoods made 16 3-pointers. Six different Corsairs, Gillette, Nelson, Claus, Bradley Willis, Donald Willis and Isaac Puzz, each made at least one.
Bisio is well aware that
his shooter-laden roster is a rarity.
“No, I’ve never had a team full of shooters like this,” Bisio said. “And to be honest I’m not sure many coaches, at any level, ever have it like this where all five guys are a threat to make a three every time we have the ball.”
L.A., San Francisco and…
San Francisco City College (18-0, 4-0) has one 18-straight games. East Los Angeles (19-1) has won 15 consecutive games.
And the team with the
third-longest winning streak in the state? College of the Redwoods, winners of 12-in-a-row.
Scoring recap
Redwoods: Gillette 28pts, Nelson 25pts, Claus 12pts
Siskiyous: Montell Willis 15pts, Kody Bauman 11pts, Dwayne McClendon 11pts.
Up next
Redwoods hit the road and face Shasta (10-11, 1-2) on Saturday at 1 p.m. while Siskiyous (7-12, 1-1) will play at Lassen on Saturday.