Colmon hits game-winning three-pointer to give Gilroy’s 50-47
home win over ‘Boys
GILROY – Senior Ron Colmon was waiting all season for another chance to take the game-winning shot. It was way back on Nov. 25, 2003, that Colmon’s number 12 was called, but his shot did not fall and the Mustang hoopsters suffered a 43-42 loss to Carmel.
Colmon never forgot coming up short on his home court.
“Coach looked at me (and said), ‘You know what, you are one of the leaders on this team,’ and he gave me a chance to hit the last shot, but I missed it,” Colmon said. “Coming into this game, I knew if it came down to it that I wanted the last shot. I knew we had 10 seconds left, worse we could do if I miss it, we go into overtime, if I make it, we win the game.”
Colmon made it from a couple of feet beyond the three-point arc, lifting the Gilroy High boys basketball team to an exhausting 50-47 overtime victory over Salinas.
“It felt great,” said Colmon, who tallied 10 points. “I saw it and at first I didn’t think it was going to go in. Then as I backed up a little bit I felt I had the rotation right so I just prayed and hoped it went in and it did.”
The swarms of Gilroy faithful erupted from their seats in the stands. After a couple of Salinas time-outs with three ticks left and then a last-second three-point attempt that was too hard, everyone celebrated Gilroy’s second league victory of the season.
“Down the stretch, we went kinda small with some offensive guys in there. We had seniors in there primarily and the seniors really stepped up and kept their poise and did a great job finishing this game,” first-year head coach Bud Ogden said. “Ronnie’s shot was super. The lid just about came off this place. That was fun. It was a shot of adrenaline.”
But Colmon’s game-breaking trey was not the play that Ogden had called during the time-out.
“We were going to go with our pick-and-roll on the outside and try to get all the way to the basket,” Ogden said.
Senior Brandt Chacon (team-high 21 points) inbounded to Colmon, who went right up with the shot that found net as the clock dipped under five seconds.
“It’s great, especially to be at home,” said Colmon before joining his teammates in the locker room. “This crowd has been with us all year. We haven’t had the greatest year, but for them to come out and support us, and for us to get the ‘W’ for them, is just awesome.”
It certainly was.
The Mustangs had a chance to win the game at the end of regulation, but Chacon’s mid-range shot did not fall as he fell to the floor after being bumped by his defender. With the score tied at 41-41, the Cowboys still had :04.8 remaining in the fourth quarter, but managed only a heave that was way short.
In overtime, Salinas went to its bread-and-butter in guard Kelly McCarty, who finished with a team-high 17 points, including all six of the Cowboys’ points in the extra session.
Down the stretch, Colmon was manned up with McCarty and did everything in his power to stop him from getting the ball. With four seconds remaining, McCarty got away and received the inbound, but was fouled by senior Mark Kennedy. McCarty did not touch the ball again, as another teammate got the final look that banked off the backboard and did not go in.
“We wanted to win really bad tonight. Last time, we went down there and we battled real hard and we came up short,” Colmon said. “We knew coming into this game if we played our game and played all four quarters, we were going to do some special things out here and we were going to get the ‘W’. That’s all we had to do, just play our game and we got the win.”
The game was neck-and-neck from start to finish. The teams were tied at 23-23 at halftime, and traded the lead nine more times before the game was decided in overtime.
“We finally have started to shoot it a little bit better. Yesterday was a big day. I hope we got over the hump,” Ogden said. “We had a couple of shooting drills and all of a sudden three or four of them are hitting a three or two, and they’re not just hitting one, they are hitting two in a row.”
Senior Kyle Warren (six points) drained two key three-pointers in the second half when his team needed it most. Trailing by four nearing the end of the third quarter, Warren netted a baseline trey. He then opened the fourth with another three-pointer to give Gilroy a 33-31 edge.
“It’s just a matter of time because he can get it going pretty good,” said Ogden of Warren.
Senior Kyle Loving finished a strong effort with seven points, while senior Steven Good and Mark Kennedy added three apiece.
The Mustangs upped their league mark to 2-4, one more victory than last season, and their overall record to 4-13. The Cowboys fell into a tie with Gilroy at 2-4 in league and are 9-12 overall.
Up next, Gilroy will play host to Hollister on Feb. 11 at 7 p.m.
JV HOOPS: The Mustang junior varsity squad defeated Salinas by a 56-38 spread. Gilroy was led by Frank Valadez (nine points), Ryan Chisolm (14 points, five rebounds), and Dominic Jackson (nine points, five steals).
