REDDING — There were two turnovers in the final 1.5 seconds of the CIF State NorCal Division V Boys Basketball semifinal tilt Saturday between third-seeded Ripon Christian and No. 2 University Prep, and by the time the deafening noise in Stuart Gym subsided it was the visiting Knights who came out with a thrilling 61-58 win.
Ripon Christian will now host No. 5 Sierra of Tollhouse on Tuesday at 7 p.m. for the NorCal final. Sierra downed top-seeded Venture Academy of Stockton 71-55 on Saturday.
With 8 seconds showing on the shot clock and 21 seconds left in the game, Eli Terpsma hit a clutch field goal to put the Knights (26-7) ahead, 61-58. The Panthers (21-13) called timeout with 8.9 seconds left, and Justin Hofman broke up the ensuing inbounds pass, forcing a turnover out of bounds to give Ripon Christian the ball with 1.5 seconds remaining.
“When they were throwing it in, I saw their one guard looking toward the corner, so I made him go the other way,” Hofman said. “They didn’t know what to do. They got it to their best player, and we doubled him and forced the turnover.”
But the game was not over. Somehow, University Prep regained possession on the Knights’ inbound play, and it appeared time had expired. However, after some animated discussion, the officials determined that there were .3 seconds on the clock, and after more discussion it was further determined that .3 seconds was not enough time for anything but a tap on the throw-in. The Panthers inbounded the ball from under their own basket and the game ended.
“With .3 seconds left I went to the referee and I told him they could not grab and shoot, it has to be a tap,” Ripon Christian coach Mark Hofman said. “I told him no, they have done the studies, it has to be a tap. And then the other coach came over and we were discussing and yelling.
“All the referees got together and discussed it and then told me I was right, they cannot catch and shoot – it can only be tapped.”
With 1:59 left in the game, Jace Beidleman took a pass from Terpsma to break the fifth tie of the second half and give the Knights the lead for good at 59-57. There were 12 lead changes in the game.
The 6-foot-7 Beidleman finished with a game-high 18 points.
“They were physical,” Beidleman said. “I’m tall and I may not look like I am physical, but I can be physical too, so I just out-physicalled them, and since I am taller I had to go up and get the rebounds and be strong.
“The gym was loud and it was intimidating to start, but once we got it figured out we were good.”
Normally the high-point man for Ripon Christian, Terpsma was bottled up a good part of the night and in foul trouble, scoring 16 points.
“We have plenty of guys who can step up,” Terpsma said. “And it doesn’t have to be one, two or three people. Everyone contributes. I think we really showed that tonight, especially in the second half.”
Stuart Gym was the smallest gym the Knights have played in this year, with Ripon Christian falling behind 28-20 before ending the first half on a 6-0 run.
“This gym was loud,” Terpsma said. “The transition game is a lot harder, because the floor is shorter and you can’t really get out in front that well. That changes the game a lot, since we rely a lot on transition.
“In the first half, we were a little off, partially because of the court and partially because we didn’t come out at 100 percent. But then we got used to it and got the drive to keep it going and it paid off in the end.”
Justin Hofman scored six of his eight points in the second half, and when he was not scoring he was driving to the bucket, either drawing a foul or drawing the defense in and dishing out to his teammates.
“In the second half, we spread out a lot more,” Justin Hofman said. “And I was on the top, so then I could take them one on one and if I didn’t get anything our shooters could come up and get shots or else I could drive in and get a layup or get fouled.”
Trey Fasani (eight points) stepped into the role of defensive specialist down the stretch, holding Panthers standout Khamron Quincy-Price (14 points) to three points in the final stanza.
“My job was to take away No. 20 (Quincy-Price) in the fourth quarter,” Fasani said. “Everybody on our team has their responsibility, and mine was to take away their lead scorer.
“I was as aggressive as the refs would let me be, trying to stay up in his grill and not let him shoot.”
Coach Hofman was forced to employ a brand of bobbing and weaving to get the win.
“This game was like the first Rocky movie,” coach Hofman said. “We got in foul trouble, so we went zone (defense). It was effective for a while, but then they started to hit shots, and then when they tied it up we went back to man. We had Trey Fasani playing great defense the last three minutes and Justin Hofman attacking the basket.
“It was another second-half surge. We challenged the guys at halftime when we told them they were playing soft and timid. We told them they were going to have to change it up or this was our last game. And they did it again. They have grit, they have heart, they’ve got courage and they used all that on the court.”
