COLUSA, CA (MPG) – On an emotional night where the RedHawk seniors and Coach Brian Davis played their final home game on Vossler Court inside Don Bransford Gymnasium, Colusa staged a late rally to clip the Winters Warriors 36-34 in a Sacramento Valley League contest.
While not necessarily a thing of beauty with both teams struggling to score, the game was close throughout and as a result came down to the wire.
Trailing 33-34 with 18 seconds left on the clock, the RedHawks got the break they needed when Kaden Stallcop stole the ball on Winters’ attempt to inbound the ball leaving Colusa 12 seconds to try and take the lead.
Following a timeout called by Davis, the RedHawks came out and executed the play with Cooper Ayala driving the lane then dishing off to Kaleb Castanon on the baseline for the layup and the foul.
After Castanon knocked down the free throw the Warriors had one last opportunity but were unable capitalize, allowing Colusa to steal the win after trailing the majority of the contest.
It was an effort that Davis found to his liking as he explained.
“Seeing our squad leave it all on floor for our seniors and myself was storybook for this old coach,” Davis said. “The guys were determined and confident going into our final league game. I’m proud of these gentlemen. They had a players only meeting a few weeks back and I love what we are seeing resulting from that.”
Ayala led the RedHawks with 10 points, while Castanon finished with nine.
Colusa (14-13, 8-4) ended the regular season as the third place team in the SVL and enter the Northern Section CIF Division IV playoffs as the No. 9 seed, which sent them to Susanville on Feb. 18 to play No. 8 Lassen.