Idrees ElFarra’s behind-the-back pass for an assist in the final minute of the game Tuesday night gave River Islands enough of a cushion to hold on for a 61-58 come-from-behind road win over Lathrop in non-league boys basketball action.
“That pass is something I work on in practice,” ElFarra said. “I feel like I am a pass-first person, and I love doing flashy passes and getting my guys the ball.
“We started off down double digits, and we know what we wanted to come in here and do on their home court in our first-ever varsity game against them and start this rivalry battle off strong. So, we fought back and kept going.”
ElFarra not only had the big pass when he needed it, he led the Riptide with 20 points along with four rebounds and three assists. He even dipped his toes into the coaching pool, encouraging coach Justin Graham to call off the press after an abysmal first quarter.
“At the end of the first quarter, Idrees (ElFarra) told me that we needed to stop pressing,” River Islands coach Justin Graham said. “We came out and pressured them, and I think that gave them a lot of easy looks in the first quarter and they jumped out to a massive lead on us. So, I challenged the guys at the end of the first quarter and they responded. We crushed them 24-10 in the second period, focusing on our half-court defense.
“I just want to mention how proud I am of Charles (Mapanao), who had 17 for us tonight. In our game against Big Valley last week that we lost by two, he was 0-for-7, and the I am proud of the way he responded tonight. He works hard.”
Mapanao (17 points, six rebounds) sparked the Riptide’s second-quarter blitz, draining a pair of 3-pointers in River Islands’ 8-2 run to start the second period.
“After that (Big Valley) game, I put in the work with shots every day and it paid off,” Mapanao said.
The Spartans (0-2) came out on fire, jumping out to an 8-0 lead. Joseph Perkins led Lathrop with 25 points, five rebounds and three steals. Caiden Wiznieski (five rebounds, two assists) added all of his 11 points in the opening quarter and D.J. Reyno chipped in 10 points and six rebounds.
“River Islands is a team that’s going to shoot the ball,” Lathrop coach Robin Hong said. “In their previous game, they attempted 40 3-pointers, and this is one of those games where they got hot. We know that basketball is a game of runs, and that they were going to make their run and when they did we had to keep a level head.”
“We were up 11 after the first quarter ad they went on a run to take a 3-point lead at halftime. It is just game management with us not being disciplined enough to adjust.”
River Islands opens the Ron Peterson Tip-off Tournament tonight against tournament host Riverbank at 8 and Monday at 6:30 p.m. the Spartans travel to Stockton to face Franklin.
Junior varsity
Lathrop 57, River Islands 49
Alex Gonzales paced the Spartans with 13 points.
Lathrop’s Adrian Vaye scored 10 of his 12 points in the fourth quarter and Jayden White chipped in 10 points.
Harmeet Lall led the Riptide with 16 points.
