Maranatha Rallies Late Again, But Rancho Verde Holds On, 43-41, in CIF Division 1-AA Championship

 

It looked like Maranatha was done Saturday night at Azusa Pacific University.

Rancho Verde led by 5 points with under 30 seconds to play and had the ball.

But the Minutemen did what they do best.

They created drama by stealing an inbounds pass and converted a free-throw.

The next time down, trailing 42-38 with 3 seconds to play, Chris Austin, who had sprinted down the length of the court with the ball, pulled up for and connected on a 3-pointer.

It got Maranatha to within 42-41.

After the Mustangs (26-3) made just the second of two free-throw attempts, Austin had one last court-long heave, but it came up short.

Rancho Verde outlasted Maranatha, 43-41, in the CIF-SS Division 1-AA title game.

Just barely, though.

It took 21 points from Damien Reedy, on 9-of-12 shooting to not only get by Maranatha, but to earn their 16th consecutive victory.

Austin was the star for Maranatha.

The junior finished with a team-best 16 points on 6 of 11 shooting, but he was especially good late.

“I had 100-percent confidence that we were going to try to win in the final seconds,” Austin said. “All of our games, up until this point, we were confident we could get it done. There were just a couple plays that made a difference in the end.”

Maranatha made its fans proud, and despite being sad after a title-game loss, their season is not over.

The Minutemen have qualified for the CIF State playoffs and will get their pairing by the end of the weekend.

Sean Espinosa’s numbers (4 of 12 shooting) might not look impressive, but the senior was the best floor general on the court and finished with 11 points, 5 steals and 2 assists.

The senior point guard was the lone Maranatha player to go all 32 minutes.

Terrance Lang’s brute size worked against him.

The 6-foot-7, 250-pound stud fouled out after just 14 minutes, and many of the fouls seemed to frustrate the Minutemen bench and fans.

Lang finished with 6 points, 5 rebounds and 2 blocked shots before he was forced to leave.

Maranatha fell behind early, 11-2, but the Minutemen didn’t panic, and after a Jesse Elrod jumper, they had tied the Mustangs at 14-14.

Elrod finished with 4 points and 3 rebounds, but his physical play got him in foul trouble as well, something that really upset Maranatha coach Tim Tucker.

“Lang is a football-basketball player and they just watched guys bounce off of him, and I don’t even know if they looked to see if they were fouls or not,” Tucker said. “When we can’t let him play, we struggle.”

Tory San Antonio had 13 for Rancho Verde.

While Maranatha is devastated, they not only get a chance to get back on the court either Tuesday or Wednesday, they also held Rancho Verde to 18 points under their postseason average Saturday night.

And Tucker believes his team will be ready when they practice on Monday.

“We’ve been resilient and fight to the end,” Tucker said. “I think they out-hustled us on 50-50 balls. It’s an emotional game, but this is a different type of group and we’re going to get back at it. Why not us? We’ve done it three times already.”

By The Numbers:

Box Score:
MHS: 6-8-10-17-(41)
RV: 11-6-12-14-(43)

Top Scorers:
Damien Reedy (RV) 21, Chris Austin (M) 16, Tory San Antonio (RV) 13, Sean Espinosa (M) 11.

Top Rebounders: Jaxen Turner (RV) 8, Terrance Lang (M) 5.

Top Assists: Jayzon Martinez (RV) 4, Skyye DeCatur (M) 3.

Field Goals: Rancho Verde: 14-34-(41%); Maranatha: 15-37-(41%).

Free-Throws: Rancho Verde: 13-21-(62%); Maranatha: 10-15-(67%).

Total Rebounds: Rancho Verde 27; Maranatha 21.