The winter break is a great time for students to relax, forget about school, get some gifts and perhaps contemplate a New Year’s resolution or two.
The winter break, however, is not a good time for basketball teams to remain fundamentally sound.
Ralston Valley and Abraham Lincoln slogged through 32 minutes of turnovers, missed layups and clanked free throws Saturday night, but managed to put together an exciting finish to their Class 4A nonleague encounter.
The Mustangs got a go-ahead basket from Pierce Hornung with two minutes remaining and survived four missed free throws and a turnover before Zach Johnson got to the line to finally ice a 64-61 victory over the Lancers, who began the season ranked No. 1.
“You get up there, you just got to relax,” Johnson said with a smile.
Relaxation was in short supply for both teams, which combined for 38 turnovers – 17 in the first quarter.
Ralston Valley (8-1) countered its sloppiness with an aggressive rebounding display that produced easy baskets and loads of second chances.
“That was the game plan,” Hornung said. “They’re bigger than us, so we just boxed out hard and took it away from them.”
Hornung scored 16 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, Brock Hornung had six points and seven rebounds and Johnson drilled three 3-pointers in the second half to score a team-best 17 points as the 2003 state champions won their fifth straight.
The Lancers (6-3) had four players score in double figures, led by 18 points from sophomore swingman Jorge Gutierrez, but struggled in their defensive spacing and conditioning.
“They absolutely beat us in the paint tonight,” Lancers coach Vince Valdez said.
Senior guard Kadeem Thomas scored 14 points on three 3-pointers, but missed his last two attempts from beyond the arc in the final 12 seconds as the Lancers fought for the tie. Ruot Pal and Francisco Cruz each added 11 points for the Lancers.
Ralston Valley 14 13 20 17 – 64
Abraham Lincoln 8 22 17 14 – 61
Ralston Valley – Johnson 6 2-3 17, Webber 4 0-0 9, Hamilton 2 2-2 6, P. Hornung 8 0-0 16, B. Hornung 3 0-0 6, Ribble 3 1-5 8, Jones 1 0-0 2, June 0 0-0 0. Totals 27 5-10 64.
Abraham Lincoln – Gutierrez 5 7-9 18, Thomas 5 1-2 14, Torres 0 5-9 5, Pal 5 1-2 11, Preciado 1 0-0 2, Cruz 4 3-4 11, Rodriguez 0 0-0 0. Totals 20 17-26 61.
3-point goals – Johnson 3, Ribble, Webber; Thomas 3, Gutierrez. Total fouls – Ralston Valley 18, Abraham Lincoln 14. Fouled out – B. Hornung. Technicals – None.
