Raiders squeak out win in Valley League opener

By STEVE GRESS

Mid-Valley Sports

CORVALLIS - At the end of most games, there are two distinct reactions to the outcome.

One team usually leaves feeling pretty good about the way it played. The other usually leaves feeling like there was more to accomplish.

On most occasions, the team with the positive reaction is the one that came away with a victory.

However, those roles were reversed Wednesday night as the players and coaches exited the Crescent Valley gym after the Valley League boys basketball opener for the host Raiders and visiting South Albany Rebels.

Mike Green scored 23 points and hit two clutch free throws with 12 seconds left as Crescent Valley opened the league season with a less than inspiring 53-50 win over the Rebels.

Despite a victory, where the Raiders (4-0, 1-0 Valley) overcame a 20-10 first-quarter deficit, Green and his teammates made an early exit from the gym and into the light rain outside.

"I wish we would have lost," Green said. "We think we are so good and we're not. We're not even a playoff team in the Valley League right now. We all need to just go home and think about what we can do. We need to search our souls to see what we can do better.

"We're not playing as a team and not doing anything right. The only thing we got out of this was a win. I would have rather lost this game so we could have realized that, hey, we're not God's gift to basketball. We need to play."

In the other locker room, the Rebels (0-4, 0-1 Valley) may not have been smiling after losing their third close game in four tries, but had to feel pretty good about the way they held their own against a team many consider the favorite to win the league title. The Rebels had lost by a point against Lebanon and two at home against Ashland.

"We played to our potential, and maybe a little bit higher," South Albany assistant coach Phil Smith said. "We proved to ourselves as a team and they played together as a team tonight instead of individually. That is what we have been preparing to do."

The Rebels came out firing on all cylinders as they worked the ball around for an open shot in the first quarter. Matt Sims hit two 3-pointers as the Rebels buried four trifectas and converted three easy layups to build a 20-10 lead.

However, the open looks failed to fall in the second quarter and the Raiders clawed their way back to take a 27-26 lead at the break. The game see-sawed in the second half and the Rebels had a chance to tie with 42 seconds left, but made just one of two free throws, and Green sealed the win after the two teams traded turnovers.

"Even if we didn't win tonight, we wanted to play well and we were very effective in doing that," Smith said. "Hopefully they believe and the coaching staff believes. That is going to be a big key. Even if we didn't win tonight we were going to use it to build on."

The Rebels have another tough test against South Salem on Friday.

The Raiders also hope to build on the game, knowing it is going to take a better performance each time out. As Green said, all 10 teams are capable of winning on any given night.

"They shot the ball well and did a lot of things right," Green said. "We didn't execute well at all. We played pathetic."

CV coach Bruce Reid agreed with his senior guard's assessment, and was especially displeased with the way his team handled the ball and its shot selection over the final three plus minutes.

"We were fortunate to get into the game, and quite frankly, we were fortunate to have won it as poorly as our decision making was, particularly in the last 3:19," Reid said. "We have to take a look at what we are doing and where we are going because it was just a poorly played game on our part."

Crescent Valley 53, South Albany 50

SOUTH ALBANY 20 6 11 13 - 50

CRES. VALLEY 10 17 13 13 - 53

South Albany - Matt Sims 16, Miller 12, Boots 8, Pool 5, Johnson 5, Stanfield 2, Wallace 2, Bowen, Ward

Crescent Valley - Mike Green 23, Hoffman 12, Casey 8, A. Green 6, Oriard 2, Welsch 2, Lopez, Johnson

JV - Crescent Valley 59, South Albany 49

Frosh - Crescent Valley 51, South Albany 28