Gresham fights off Barlow in seesaw battle between Mt. Hood rivals

“It’s all about peaking at the right time. You want to be playing your best in February and into March.”

Author:
JD Humburg
Publish date:
Feb 8, 2022 8:58 AM EST

By Dave Ball | Photos by Dave Ball

GRESHAM — The Gresham boys basketball team surged into the lead late and would not give Barlow a shot to pull even in the final seconds of the Gophers’ 47-43 rivalry win Monday night.

Up a point in the late stages of the game, Gresham was content to play keep away, forcing the Bruins to chase the ball around the perimeter. The Gophers peeled 30 seconds off the clock when sophomore guard R.J. Alexander took in a pass along the sideline and found a clear path to the basket. He exploded past his defender and finished the layup to put Gresham up 46-43 with less than a minute to play.

“I had a mismatch with a center guarding me, so I took advantage and helped the team out,” Alexander said.

Barlow misfired on a 3-point attempt at the other end. It would prove to be their final chance of the night.

Gresham missed two free throws to keep the door open, but the Bruins gave the ball back on a traveling violation near halfcourt.

The Gophers inbounded the ball only to see Barlow’s trapping defense pin Scotty Riddle along the baseline with nowhere to escape. The Bruins were one tick from earning a 10-second violation and getting the ball back. But Gresham coach Erik Lyslo used his final timeout just in time to avoid the turnover.

“I knew we had the one timeout left, and we needed it,” Lyslo said. “That set us up for our press break, and we were able to get out of here with a big win.”

Making the most of their second chance, the Gophers inbounded to Donavon Ferguson, who took a series of dribbles down the sideline, crossed midcourt and fired a pass ahead to Alexander, who was fouled in the corner of the court.

Alexander made the first of his two free throws for the clinching point with 5.8 seconds to play.

“They made free throws down the stretch, and we didn’t execute offensively,” Barlow coach Tom Johnson said.

The teams traded the lead nine times in the second half.

The Gophers have been without their top scorer in guard Esyah Pippa-White, who sprained an ankle last week against David Douglas. Lyslo sent him to the scorer’s table in the closing seconds Monday to make a couple of inbound passes with the game still in the balance.

“We weren’t asking him to move around at all, I just wanted his I.Q. out there to make those passes,” Lyslo said.

Pippa-White is expected to return to his starting role Saturday at Reynolds.

“With him out, we were missing 22 points. It’s not like we were going to outscore Barlow,” Lyslo said. “The guys bought into the game plan, played great half-court defense and slowed down the pace. The hope was to be in it at the end, then make some big shots, and we did.”

Barlow took a 20-16 lead to halftime.

Senior Tyson Roupp returned to the court early and hoisted a few tune-up shots from the corner. The extra practice paid off.

On the opening possession of the third quarter, center Jesse Jones sent a kick-out pass to that exact spot, and Roupp swished a 3-pointer to give Barlow its biggest lead at 23-16.

The Gophers responded with a nine-point run that saw Alexander drain a go-ahead triple from the top of the arc. Moments later, Riddle drove in from the sideline and went airborne across the key. Halfway through his flight, he twisted his body to face the hoop and converted a short 5-footer for one of the most spectacular shots of the night.

“I work on those off-balance shots. I saw a chance for a floater and it went in,” Riddle said. “We wanted to win those first three minutes of the second half. That gave us some momentum and things built from there.”

The teams battled back and forth over the next 10 minutes never more than a bucket apart.

Late in the third quarter, Nathan Jones swiped a steal and converted a breakaway layup to put Barlow up two. But a teammate was demonstrative with a celebration and got hit with a technical foul.

The teams walked to the other end, where Riddle hit both free throws to tie the score.

A similar exchange occurred early in the fourth quarter. Nathan Jones absorbed a bump in the lane and converted a bank shot off the glass to put Barlow up two. The Barlow bench was called for a technical after arguing for a whistle on the play.

Riddle made the long walk and once again sank both foul shots to tie the score.

“It’s just like practice, and practice makes perfect,” Riddle said. “I was just focused on making big-time shots.”

Riddle led the Gophers with 18 points, going 8 for 10 from the free throw line — all in the second half.

Struggling to hit from the outside, the Bruins focused on sending the ball inside to Nathan Jones in the fourth quarter. He converted a couple of three-point plays during that stretch, giving Barlow its final lead at 43-41 with 2:37 to play.

“He did a great job for us — he’s been playing like that all year,” Johnson said.

Jones led all scorers with 19 points.

Gresham’s win gives it a split of the season series with Barlow and puts it a half-game behind the Bruins in the chase for second place in the Mt. Hood Conference.

“It’s all about peaking at the right time,” Lyslo said. “You want to be playing your best in February and into March.”

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