Cagers move into second place
Ramona beat Valley Center in overtime 76-74 in the Dawg House on Friday to move into second place in the Valley League.
The Dawgs have a 7-3 record in league play. They trail Westview and San Marcos, which both have 8-2 records and are tied for first place in league. The Dawgs play those two teams in their last two games of the season this week.
The Valley Center game was actually two games. At least that is how it was officiated. In the first half, the officials let the two teams play (translation hack) and in the second half the officials called the game tightly. Ramona was called for 34 fouls to Valley Center’s 26. The Dawgs hit 23 of 35 foul shots. The Jaguars hit only 19 of 51 free throws. That was a big difference in the score and the game. Overall five players fouled out of the game.
Bulldogs Zach Winds, Keith Scheib and Bryson Garcia all left the game due to fouls.
The game was tied at 16 after one period of play. The Dawgs took a 32-31 lead at intermission. The Dawgs took a 56-49 lead into the final period and led by as many as eleven points in the fourth quarter. Valley Center then went on a 14-3 run and tied the game at 71 at the end of regulation.
Ramona took an early lead in the OT period, but the Jags tied the score at 76 with 57 ticks left on the scoreboard. Andy Alcaraz then drove the length of the court and scored the winning basket with eight seconds left in the game. Stanley Reden took a desperation shot, but Kwayde Miller came up with the rebound and held the ball until time ran out to give the Dawgs the win.
Reden led all scorers with 30 points and he pulled done 20 rebounds. Alcaraz led the Dawgs in scoring with 23 points. He grabbed six rebounds and had four steals on defense.
Jared Engler turned in a double-double. The junior forward scored 17 points and hauled down ten boards. He also had three steals.
Scheib scored 8 points and dished out five assists. Josh Leiber scored 6 points, had five rebounds, two assists and three steals. Garcia scored 9 points and five boards before fouling out.
Kwayde Miller came off the bench and grabbed nine rebounds and blocked two shots while scoring 3 points. Adam Watson (4), Windes (4) and Travis Stevens (2) also scored in the win.
The Bulldogs control their destiny in the final week of the league play.