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Hill hits game-winning 3-pointer to beat Raiders
February 17, 2007
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Junior J.D. Hill hit the game-winning 3-pointer with 1:36 remaining, as Corban came-from-behind tonight to defeat the Raiders of Southern Oregon in the Warriors' regular season finale. (Photo courtesy of Charissa Bernard) |
SALEM, Ore. - In his final game as a Warrior, junior J.D. Hill (Lebanon, Ore.) hit the game-winning 3-pointer with 1:36 remaining on the clock to help Corban's men's basketball team come-from-behind and end the season with a 62-61 victory over the Red Raiders of Southern Oregon on Saturday.
In front of a proud crowd that thanked four departing Warriors -- senior Brad Reynoso (Salem, Ore.), senior Kevin Van Hook (Silverdale, Wash.), senior Nate Morris (Dufur, Ore.), and Hill -- for their time as a Warrior, the host team came out strong and shot 5-for-7 from behind the 3-point line in nearly eleven minutes of play to make the score 21-11 with 9:53 remaining in the first half. The post-season bound Raiders battled back, however, and grabbed their first lead since the game's opening five minutes to take a 29-27 advantage with 2:15 left when Matt Pizzola assisted Ben Krasowski on a three-point bucket. Minutes later, Southern Oregon’s Trenton Fraser nailed a three-pointer roughly three steps deeper than the arc as the buzzer sounded and put his team ahead, 34-31, as the two squads headed into the locker rooms.
Van Hook matched the trey when the two teams made their way back onto the court after the break and knotted the score at 34-all with 18:18 remaining in the evening’s encounter. With neither team able to pull away from the other, Hill gave the Warriors a slight lead (59-57) with 4:26 left, but it was not enough as the Raiders tied the game for a thirteenth and final time at 59-59 with 3:04 remaining in the game when Krasowski converted a lay-up.
As 1:49 dangled on the game clock, Southern Oregon’s Chuckie Ivey finished a lay-in, as he was fouled by Corban sophomore Kyle Masten (Salem, Ore.). With an opportunity to take a three-point lead in the final minutes, Ivey’s free throw attempt caromed off the rim to Corban sophomore Wade Douglas (Ontario, Ore.), who had the ball slapped out of his hands. Fortunately for the Warriors, the ball was tipped to Hill, who was able to pull in the rebound. The Warriors moved the ball up the court and got it back to Masten, who in-turn found a wide-open Hill on the right side wing for the game-winning three-pointer with 1:36 to go that put the host Warriors up by a mere point (62-61) and turned out to be the final made bucket of the night.
A pair of timeouts with just over a minute remaining and a questionable intentional kick-ball turnover by Reynoso gave Southern Oregon the ball with 34 seconds remaining and one final chance to walk out of the C. E. Jeffers Sports Center with the much-needed win.
As the Raider offense moved the ball around and let the seconds tick off the clock, Matt Cowell found the ball in his hands with just over four seconds remaining and put up a good-look from three-point land only to have it fall short, as it clanged off the front of the rim and fell once again into the awaiting hands of Hill for a fitting end to a storied three-year career in the Capitol city.
Corban was led by Douglas’ double-double of 17 points and game-high 12 rebounds, while Hill added 14 points and a game-high 2 assists. Van Hook finished with 9 points, Reynoso with 8 points and a game-high 2 steals, and Morris with 7 points of his own. Along with Douglas' game-high rebounding effort, Hill and Reynoso each finished with 5 rebounds for the victors.
For the Raiders, Ivey tallied a game-high 18 points on 7-for-12 shooting from the field including 3-for-5 on three pointers. Krasowski and Josh McDermott finished with 12 and 10 points respectively, while Erion Moore led the Raiders with 8 rebounds.
As a team, Corban shot 23-for-56 (41.1%) from the field, including 9-for-19 (47.4%) from beyond the arc. Meanwhile, Southern Oregon ended the night 25-for-57 (43.9%) from the field, including 6-for-17 (35.3%) from behind the 3-point line. Both teams combined to shoot 12-for-23 (52.2%) from the free throw line, as Corban connected on 7 attempts and Southern Oregon canned 5 free throws.
With its second straight regular season ending win, Corban concludes its schedule at 5-25 overall, 3-15 in Cascade Collegiate Conference play. Meanwhile, Southern Oregon drops its seventh straight contest and backs its way into the conference tournament with an overall record of 12-17, 5-13 in CCC action.
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