Rangers rally in second half, stay unbeaten in league

Anthony Garlington, shown here in an earlier game, led the Rangers with 15 points. (Photo by Rick Rowell)

By Paige Mendez, Correspondent

The Santa Rosa Academy boys basketball team took a last-minute 40-35 victory over the Desert Christian Academy Conquerors in their South Valley League game Wednesday night.

After a rocky first quarter with just two Ranger baskets compared to the Conquerors' seven, the battle was all uphill for Santa Rosa. Even after outscoring Desert Christian in the second quarter, the Rangers still trailed by six going into halftime. Head coach Tom Crunk said at that point, he knew he had to inspire some more work from his team in order to win.

"At halftime we basically just said, 'Execute and work harder,'" Crunk said. "They came out and they definitely worked a lot harder in the second half."

The Rangers' work showed itself in the eight second-half steals for the team and the 23 rebounds they put up compared to Desert Christian's total of 14 -- not to mention their steady climb to shorten the lead, then eventually take it early in the fourth quarter.

With just under two minutes to go in the third quarter, senior guard Anthony Garlington completed the basketball equivalent of a pick-six with a block on one end of the court that ended with a 3-pointer on the other end to bring the margin down to just six.

Garlington, who was already in foul trouble in the early part of the second half, seemed to increase his aggression in spite of his foul count, adding five steals and a handful of blocks after the third foul was called on him.

"I just have to play with intensity," Garlington said. "You can't back down for nothing; you have to keep the intensity up."

That intensity was evident, perhaps most of all, in his 15 points, as the leading scorer on the night. Also in the timing of his last seven, three of which brought the Rangers to their first lead of the night at 32-31 with just under six minutes to go in the game.

A tense three minutes followed as the Rangers remained ahead by just three points until the 1:15 mark.

"It was a three-point game for what felt like 16 minutes," Crunk said. "We were getting good looks, the ball was rolling in and out of the rim, but the best part was that we were playing defense and as long as we were doing it on that end, I knew it was going to transfer to the other end eventually."

And transfer it did, with the biggest push coming from a steal under the hoop by senior Andrew Atchison, who converted it quickly to a bucket that put his team up 38-33 with under a minute to go. Then senior starting guard Dylan Sapong drained two foul shots that sealed the deal for Santa Rosa, keeping their league record undefeated this season.

According to Crunk, Sapong played sick and injured in the game, which may have led to the few turnovers he committed mid-game. But to Crunk, a player who can recover from those mistakes and still contribute 11 points and four rebounds is a luxury.

"He's one of our leaders and the fact that he can make the adjustment to having a turnover to still keeping his head in the game and still orchestrate to do what we need to do is huge," Crunk said.

With five other seniors on the roster, the team is full of leaders, which Crunk said is a blessing as a coach, as well. Of those other seniors, Century Castle, contributed four points and 13 rebounds on the night, which proved essential for the comeback as half of those boards were offensive leading to second-chance points for the Rangers. Joshua Grace contributed four points and Atchison ended the night with six.

This win puts the Rangers at a 17-4 overall record on the season, with a 9-0 league record.