Bulldogs upset Pirates in final point of game
Coach Ken Scheib’s Ramona High varsity boys basketball team opened the 2009 Valley League season on the road as the cagers traveled to Mt. Carmel and Oceanside. The Bulldogs will return home with a 1-1 record, as they were upset by Mt. Carmel and then upset Oceanside.
Turnabout is fair play. The Dawgs are now 10-6 on the season.
“We were flat against Mt. Carmel and they got us. We played well against Oceanside and hung in there and won a big game,” said an exuberant Ken Scheib. “Oceanside is one of the top teams in our league. We didn’t want to fall two games behind after two games.”
The 59-54 loss to Mt. Carmel was a game of momentum. Mt. Carmel completely controlled the first period and led 21-7 at the end of the quarter. The Dawgs took command of the second period and outscored the Mount 18-6 to go into the locker room trailing 27-25.
Ramona took a temporary lead in the third period, but the Sundevils went on a run and led 42-32 going into the final eight minutes. Ramona took the momentum in the final period and cut the lead to 1 point with 1:09 left in the game. The Dawgs had opportunities to tie the game or take the lead, but the Sundevils held on for their first win of the season.
The Sundevil defense did a good job of taking away Ramona’s best offensive weapon by holding Dodge McIntosh to one 3-point goal. The Dawgs only hit six 3-pointers. Andrew Alcaraz had four of those.
McIntosh led all scorers with 24 points. Alcaraz also scored in double figures with 14 points. Cameron Kolk (6), Keith Scheib (6) and Bryson Garcia (4) also scored for the Dawgs.
Ramona beat Oceanside 54-53 on the Dawg’s final shot and only field goal in the fourth period.
Oceanside scored nine of the final 12 points in the first quarter to take a 20-13 lead. The Pirates led the entire second period and took a 32-26 lead into the locker room.
The Bulldogs outscored the Pirates in the third stanza and cut the lead to 44-42 going into the final period.
The Dawgs’ ability to shoot free throws kept them in the game in the final eight minutes. The Dawgs first ten points in the fourth quarter came from the charity stripe. The Dawgs hit 20 of 24 free throws in the game. The Pirates only hit 12 of 23, a big difference.
The final and winning bucket came off typical Bulldog play. Cameron Kolk dove for a loose ball under the Ramona basket and got control. An alert Scheib called time out before the Pirates could tie up the ball. Trailing 53-52 with 11 seconds left on the clock, the coach called for an inbounds play to go to Kolk.
“We practice that play and Cameron is our first option,” said Scheib. “Teams usually concentrate on Dodge (McIntosh) and Andrew (Alcaraz), so we have a play to take advantage of Cameron’s skills under the basket.”
Keith Scheib set up to the right of the basket and faked a pass to McIntosh. He then hit a very open Kolk under the basket. Kolk put the ball on the glass and it banked in for the winning 2 points.
McIntosh led Ramona with 15 points. Kolk had 12 points and seven rebounds. Keith Scheib had 7 points and led the team with eight rebounds. Alcaraz (6), Engler (4), Zach Windes (6), Josh Leiber (2) and Garcia (2) also scored in the upset win.