Photo by Mike Daly

REDDING, Calif. – The Shasta College men's basketball team pulled off an 87-76 upset victory over No. 13 College of the Redwoods Saturday at home.

Despite the Corsairs entering the game second in the state in 3-pointers made and 3-point field goal percentage, the Knights held their opponent to one field goal in the final five minutes and two field goals in the final eight minutes to hand the Golden Valley Conference leaders their first GVC defeat.

"We've all known we were capable of playing this way, it's a matter of us maturing and playing consistently," said Shasta College head coach Kele Fitzhugh. "I saw the sophomores play with more of the passion than they have been and I'm used to seeing and playing with a purpose."

Shasta trailed for only nine seconds in the game when it was down 5-3 but fired off an 11-0 run highlighted by a 3-pointer from Derek Gorden to get ahead for good. The Knights stretched their lead to 27-13 thanks to back-to-back 3s from Tanner Bidwell and Adam Shoff and extended it to 15 on a Michael Plunkitt layup around the midway point in the first half.

The hot start was exactly what the Knights needed to take down a state-ranked opponent.

"Every game we come out soft and don't bring the energy we need in the beginning of the game so we come out flat and get down to much," said Gorden, who scored 15 points. "But we had the energy the early and had it the whole game."

Shasta led 48-39 at half, shaking off a scare with Redwoods going on a 10-0 to eventually pull within four.

The Knights made 8 of their 10 3-pointers in the first half to keep Redwoods on its heels. But the Corsairs used a 10-2 run fueled by 3s from Zach Claus and Isaac Puzz to bring it to 68-64 with 8:38 remaining.

But Shasta focused on its defense around the perimeter to prevent Redwoods from staging a comeback. Shasta made 17-of-20 free throws in the second half and sealed the game with Plunkitt and Zach Thompson combining to make six straight from the charity stripe to end the game.

"I told them the only way they were coming back is if they shoot 3s so we couldn't give them those looks. Two's didn't hurt us because 3s give them energy and focus."

Six Knights finished in double figures with Simmer Singh leading the way with a team-best 17 points and 10 rebounds for a double-double. Plunkitt and Gorden each scored 15 points, Brenden Hoag had 11 and Bidwell and Thompson each scored 10 points.

STANDINGS
Team GVC, Overall
#13 Redwoods 4-1, 17-4
#25 Butte 2-2, 12-8
Shasta 2-2, 11-11
Feather River 2-2, 7-13
Siskiyous 1-2, 7-13
Lassen 1-3, 5-13
*CCCMBCA State Poll (Jan. 21)