GRANTS PASS – The Roseburg boys basketball team made the trip Grants Pass on Tuesday with hopes of pulling off an upset and moving into position to reach a postseason game, but the Indians fell short of that goal in a 45-39 loss.
The Indians allowed just two points to the Cavemen in the first quarter and held the lead until midway through the second period. Grants Pass took its first lead on a Tayler Phillips jumper with 4:41 left in the first half and they never gave the edge back.
Grants Pass (15-9; 8-4 SWC) held a six-point lead going into the break and then extended the advantage to as much as 11 points in the third. Roseburg went scoreless for the first 4:50 of the second half, but a lay-in by Jon Crince stopped a 7-0 run by G.P. The Indians went on a 10-5 run to finish the quarter and trailed by six heading to the final period.
The RHS boys continued to fight back and made it a two-point game in the final two minutes. Crince made a free throw with 1:48 left remaining to convert a three-point play and make the score 39-37 in favor of Grants Pass. The Cavemen stretched the lead back to four from the free throw line, but a quick lay-in by Collin Warmouth brought it back to a two-point game with :32 seconds to go.
Tyler Anderson gave the Cavemen a three-point advantage after making one of two free throw attempts. On the ensuing possession, Roseburg looked to tie the game on a shot by Warmouth. Coming off a screen, Warmouth got the ball on the left wing, but had his shot blocked by Randy Clark. Tyler Rund made two free throws with :11 seconds left to put the game out of reach.
Warmouth scored a game-high 14 points, despite going scoreless in the first half. Senior Jon Crince scored 11 and Carson Ellis added 10 off the bench.
Rund and Anderson each finished with 11 points for Grants Pass and Tayler Phillips added 10.
The Roseburg boys finish the regular season with an 11-13 record. The loss will most likely keep the 37th-ranked Indians out of the play-in round picture when the rankings freeze on Thursday, but there are at least four of the teams ranked ahead of Roseburg that still have games left to play. The Tribe will most likely need to be ranked No. 36 or better to qualify for a play-in game.
ROSEBURG 8; 8; 10; 13 – 39
GRANTS PASS 2; 18; 12; 13 – 45
ROSEBURG (39) – Collin Warmouth 14, Crince 11, Ellis 10, Johnson 3, Stone 1, Seely, Lake, Medak.
GRANTS PASS (45) – Tyler Rund 11, Taylor Anderson 11, Phillips 10, Rich 7, Lopez 4, Clark 2, Rucker 0, Lackey 0.
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— 1490 The Score (@KSKRTheScore) October 24, 2024