Men’s Basketball Team Rallied for First Home Win in Two Years

An exciting come-from-behind 70-68 victory over Shasta on their home court was a highlight for the Eagle men's basketball team during a 1-2 start in conference.

Playing their 20th game overall but just their second home game, the Eagles won at Tom Powers Court for the first time in two seasons. They trailed by 10 at half time, 37-27 and were down 49-40 early in the second half. Five scoreboard minutes later, after a pair of lay-ins by freshman Gannon Ysais, they tied the score at 51, then took a 54-53 lead after a basket inside by freshman CJ Crane.

The lead grew to 62-57 after freshman JoJo Jointer buried 2 three-pointers in a row from the corner in front of players from the women's team, who were cheering in the stands after they came back to win in overtime.

The Eagle men led 68-59 with just under 2 minutes to play, but then Shasta rallied to tie it at 68. The Knights got the ball back on a turnover with a chance to take the lead, but freshman Julius Blair made a steal, and freshman Eli Bryant got fouled on a drive to the basket and made two free throws with 18 seconds on the clock.

Shasta quickly got a good look from under the basket, but the ball went in and out. The Eagles got it back and missed two free throws before Bryant stole Shasta's last-gasp pass as time expired.

The win followed a 62-51 conference-opening loss at Lassen mid-week and was followed a week later by a 70-57 loss at Redwoods.

The Eagles are playing two of their next three at home, Wednesday, Jan. 21 at 7 p.m. against Butte and Saturday, Jan. 31 at 3 p.m. vs Lassen. In between, on Jan. 24, they play at Feather River.

Siskiyous (1-2 GVC, 6-15 overall) and Shasta (0-3 and 1-20) have both had their struggles this season, as have Lassen (1-1 and 3-16) and Butte (0-2 and 8-12), while Feather River and Redwoods are both 3-0 and 14-7.

Eagles' head coach Kyle Heath said he had seen Shasta play at tournaments during the preseason and "knew they could score." The Knights hit 8 three-pointers in the first half against the Eagles, but only 4 in the second half.

These Eagles don't shoot a lot of threes, and four of the six they made against Shasta came off the hands of guys who started the game on the bench: JoJo Jointer made all three of his attempts from beyond the arc, and Gannon Ysais was one for two on threes and 4 for 5

overall from the floor. They finished with 9 points apiece, while the Eagles got no scoring from their bench against Lassen. Ysais was hot again at Redwoods, going 4 for 6 from three-point range to score 12 points.

Heath praised the guys coming off the bench for also helping turn the Shasta game around with their defense. "I stuck with them longer because they earned it… I was better subbing and trusting the bench," he said of freshmen Jointer, Ysais, Ili McCabe, Jai Blair and Jack Wheeler.

Julius Blair, the team's top perimeter shooter this season, led the Eagles with 18 points against Shasta on 7 for 12 shooting, including 2 for 4 on threes. Jeremy Gaut, the team's top inside scorer, had 16 points and 6 rebounds. Freshman CJ Crane added 7 points, 7 rebounds and 3 assists; Eli Bryant had 6 points and 5 rebounds; and Gavin Mclean had 5 points, 4 rebounds, and 4 assists.

It wasn't all good for the Eagles. "We're still making rookie mistakes," Heath said. "But you learn through winning. The sophomores didn't win a home game last year, and it's always nice to beat Shasta. We've struggled giving up points off turnovers and second chance points, so it was positive on those things. It's not for lack of effort."

Heath noted that the win continued a season-long trend: other than the 62-51 loss at Lassen, the Eagles have won when they hold teams under 70 points.

"It's a fun group," Coach said. "They're working hard and have a great attitude. At practice the day after the Lassen loss, you would have thought we won by 20 points."

Gaut shot 8 for 14 from the field and 6 for 7 from the free throw line at Lassen to score a game-high 22 points with 4 offensive rebounds and 9 total rebounds.

Bryant was the only other Eagle to score in double digits with 11 points. He had 4 offensive rebounds and 10 total rebounds.

Crane had 6 offensive rebounds and 10 total rebounds and scored 7 points, while Julius Blair scored 8 points with 2 steals, and Mclean scored 3 points with 3 assists. Jai Blair didn't score, but he had a steal, 3 assists and 2 rebounds, while Jointer had 2 assists.

The Eagles started a tough stretch of three GVC games at Redwoods, where they trailed by just 2 at the half, 29-27, then got outscored 41-30 in the second half. Eli Bryant had a team-high 14 points with 5 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals; and Ysais scored 12 points with 3 rebounds and a steal.

Other than Bryant, who shot 5 for 10 from the field at Redwoods, the Eagles' other four starters were a combined 9 for 34. Gaut, Julius Blair and Crane all scored 7 points each,

and Mclean scored 4. Gaut had 3 offensive rebounds and 8 total rebounds; Crane had 6 total rebounds; JoJo Jointer scored 4 points, and Ili McCabe scored 2 points with 3 assists and 2 rebounds.

Heath said Butte is a little down from the recent past. They're young, no longer have their 7 footer, and aren't as big overall as usual.

The coach is continuing to encourage his players to look at each game as a one-game season. "We're looking for consistency, which is normal with so many new guys. There's a lot of learning moments for everybody."

By Steve Gerace