With Ripon clinging to a one-point lead with 26 seconds remaining in the fourth period Friday, Escalon muffed an in-bounds throw for the Indians’ Ethan Baur to recover. He sprinted the length of the floor, waiting for two Cougars to overrun him, allowing a short shot for a three-point lead.
There was 6.5 seconds showing on the clock when Ripon’s Logan Lefebvre tied up the ball with Escalon retaining possession. The Cougars fired a desperation shot that Dawson Downs rebounded for the Indians, drawing a foul with .9 seconds left.
Ty Herrin threw the ensuing in-bounds pass the length of the floor to Landon Gillespie, burning the remaining time and giving Ripon a thrilling 52-49 Trans-Valley League boys basketball win.
“We were only up by one, and we didn’t want to give them a lot of space to play on the floor, so we knew we had to play man (defense),” Baur said. “He didn’t really look at the ball, so I got a steal and went on a fastbreak.
“I thought about pulling it out and running the time out, but I just decided to take it to the hoop. I heard two people behind me and they went flying past me. I finished with a layup and then we closed the game out with good defense.”
After Logan Lefebvre (eight points, six assists) put the Indians (4-0 TVL, 14-5 overall) ahead for good at 48-47 with 2:57 left in the game, Downs (16 points, 11 rebounds) followed up with a fall-away jumper to bump the lead to 50-47.
“It is a fun rivalry and it was a fun game,” Downs said. “The team was excited.
“We were up by a lot and we relaxed and they ended up coming back on us and then we fought back and won.”
Gillespie added 10 points and Herrin eight.
Escalon (1-2, 14-4) trailed by 11 points in the third quarter before ending the period on a 10-2 run and starting the final quarter with seven consecutive points to take a 45-41 lead. Downs stopped the bleeding with a 3-pointer with 4:45 left in the game to draw Ripon within 45-44.
“We lucked out,” Indians coach Dean Balcao said. “We have to rebound better. They played hard and got a lot of offensive rebounds. We knew they were going to be physical and go to the boards. Some of the guys were complaining that they were a little bit more physical. We just need to do a better job on the boards.
“But we did a good job getting down and coming back and taking the lead. They had too many offensive boards and we had too many turnovers, but we survived.”
Logan Huebner paced the Cougars with 10 points.
Ripon faces Hughson on Wednesday night at home at 7:30.
Junior varsity
Ripon 67, Escalon 48
Gino Calderra paced the Indians with 18 points.
Ripon’s Andrew Shaw and Brett Skavdahl added 14 points apiece.
