MEN
College of the Redwoods’ men’s basketball team bested visiting Siskiyous at home Saturday by the final of 70-57, taking their record to 14-7 (3-0 Golden Valley Conference) and setting up a showdown with Feather River on the road Thursday, the Golden Eagles also 3-0 conference.
Immediately after the Siskiyous game, Redwoods head coach Justin Claus said it was always tough when you see a team multiple times in a season, and Siskiyous has been traditionally hard-working, physical, and gritty, Saturday’s contest not deviating from that trend. Claus was proud of his squad fighting through injury and illness that shelved a few rotational players and “surviving the week and getting the job done. A lot of teams are dealing with similar things this time of year, and we were intentional about not using that as an excuse — but it absolutely took a full team effort. Everyone had to step up and contribute to make this happen.”
Alfonso Medina paced the squad with 19 points and Tommy Rotbergs contributed 14 off the bench in only 15 minutes of play. Nate Sweet and Marcos Rosales both added 11, and Kaden Erlenbush had 10 rebounds, nine defensive. Claus said his squad, since unable to practice liked they would’ve liked this past week, was challenged to “take a step forward mentally. They did a great job really locking into the scout, understanding Siskiyous’ personnel, and taking away some of their primary actions and sets they usually score on.”
Claus also praised his assistants, Zac Claus and Garrett Hall, for the work they did preparing the team.
“Everyone played, everyone had to contribute that was there that day,” said Claus.
Donald Bickle and Luka Radovanovic were out, Shevy Bero-VanMeter was injured in practice, and CR had players coming off illness.
“We really felt like we were just having to survive, and we did a good job,” Claus continued. “We had a lot of guys contribute in ways they’re normally not asked to do, but Tommy was again a big part of the game coming off the bench for us, had great energy, scoring points in big moments. I was excited to see how the team handled the adversity of the week.”
Redwoods held a 29-27 lead at half after Siskiyous had an early advantage, and the opposition got kudos from Claus for their competitiveness in a game where Redwoods wasn’t in their “peak physical form,” according to the coach, especially in the first half. In a grind of a game, CR persisted for the victory.
Medina was 8-for-12 from the field, and Claus knew he had a good game, but said he wasn’t expecting to see 19 on the box score. Medina got credit for always playing close to the full 40 minutes and having to defend prolific players, and consistently “quietly be the player of the game,” according to Claus.
Looking ahead to the Feather River contest, Claus said his squad had been envisioning and preparing for this game since November, as the leader takes the outright lead in the GVC, “one of the biggest if not the biggest game of the year for us, exactly what it’s shaping up to be. All our guys know it, of course, we’re still crafting our message for them, but we all know this game has the biggest implications on our season of any game yet. Our guys are taking this week to really prepare, understand their personnel, how they play, watching a lot of film. It’s a huge game, one you live for at this level, and we’re lucky to be in it and have a shot to take the lead on Thursday.”
Steve Watson
Paityn Erlenbush attempts a free throw for CR. She led the squad with 16 points Saturday against Siskiyous, canning six from the line. (Steve Watson—Contributed)
WOMEN
CR’s women’s team, meanwhile, also topped Siskiyous on Saturday, by the final of 69-58. After the game, head coach Bree Northern said, “The ladies came out strong from the jump and set the tone for the game. We were able to get good looks from inside that helped us get into a rhythm. The team did a great job sharing the ball and playing together.” CR goes to 10-9 on the year, 2-1 in Golden Valley Conference play, ahead of a GVC road trip starting Thursday.
Paityn Erlenbush scored 16 for CR against Siskiyous to go with her nine rebounds in an efficient five-of-seven from the field. Nora Talty and Addison Wingate also had nine boards, Talty scoring 14 for Redwoods on six-of-eleven field goals. Caidence Young provided a spark off the bench, hitting four of her eight three-point attempts and scoring 12.
“I thought Paityn did a great job battling inside,” said Northern. “We got her the ball, which was our focus in the game, and I thought she held her position, made her moves at the right time, and it paid off. She was scoring, got to the line, and did really well. Addison, she worked really hard, was getting boards, helping break the press and in the right spots at the right time. And then Nora, she found her shot again, was feeling it, hit shots for us, she rebounded as well, doing what she does for us. I thought Caidence came off the bench and shot really well, just a huge factor for our team win coming in and hitting shots. ”
Northern said it felt like her team was getting more and more unselfish in games as the season progressed, “playing more like a team, sharing the ball, making that extra pass, and that’s really fun to watch. The girls are starting to feel that, and realize when they share the ball, it gets their teammates open and we’re making shots off those passes. They’re enjoying it, it’s fun to watch, the crowd enjoys it, so it’s been great and we’re doing a good job.”
The team traveled to Feather River as well for a Thursday date against a team that is back competing after not having a presence for two years. Northern said they’re “in the process of building their team and program up again, but they play hard, they jump the passing lanes, they’re physical. They don’t play scared at all, so it’s not going to be an easy game at all. It’s going to be tough, we have a long road trip (with Lassen on Saturday), we have to play at higher elevations, so definitely factors that will be challenging for us. We have to go in, play our game, and take care of business, you can’t take any team lightly at all in conference.”
Lassen is “getting better every game,” according to the coach, a team of hard workers with which Redwoods must “match their physicality and play cleanly, not turning the ball over, keep sharing the ball and stay disciplined. It’s a tough road trip and we’re hoping to go 2-0, but we’ve got to prepare for it.”
Northern concluded by saying it’s been good seeing her squad share the ball and play together, feeling like they’re getting better every week.
“I’m proud of the team for working hard,” she said.
Ken McCanless can be reached at 707-441-0526.