McBride shot gives DN win at the buzzer

Warriors down Bandon 60-58 

Junior Nick McBride of the Del Norte High varsity basketball team takes a shot at the buzzer at the end of a game against Bandon, Ore., in Brookings on Friday. The shot went in to give the Warriors the 60-58 win. (Photo courtesy of Jef Hatch/ HatchPhoto.com)

With three seconds left in the game and the score tied at  58 apiece at the 2009 Brookings Rotary Invitational Basketball Tournament, the ball was passed to McBride from out of bounds.

As the clock was about to go to zero he put up a shot and it went in to help Del Norte snap a two-game losing streak.

The victory improves the Warriors to 2-2 for the year and handed Bandon its first loss of the season as the Tigers fell to 2-1.

McBride, a junior who was a member of the varsity squad as a sophomore last season, played his first game of the year on Friday, came off the bench and led the squad with 22 points.

Del Norte was up by as much as 16 points before the Tigers mounted a comeback in the fourth quarter. 

“We gave away a big lead, but I’m glad we got the win,” Warrior head coach Scott Alexander said.

He commended McBride for his performance, but added that just like the rest of the team “he still has a long ways to go,” especially on the defensive end of his game.

But, his coach added “When you score 22 points and lead all scorers and hit the game winner it’s definitely a good game.”

In the first quarter Del Norte came out “a little sluggish,” Alexander said and the Warriors trailed 11-10 at the end of the first period of play.

In the second quarter Del Norte found its groove as the Warriors went on a three-point scoring binge. This included three-pointers by Travis Stacey, Scottie Skeen and Brandon Kakitsuka. By the end of the half Del Norte had a 33-21 advantage.

Alexander commended his team for its excellent defensive play in that quarter.

“We put the clamps on them,” he said.

In the third quarter it was

more of the same as the Warriors continued to harass the Tigers on defense and kept putting points on the board and jumped out to a 48-32 lead on a McBride three-pointer.

Bandon got it down to 12 at the end of the quarter and continued to whittle the lead away in the fourth as Del Norte got cold from the field and the defense stated to become lax.

“The wheels fell off once we got that big lead,” Alexander said.

Bandon took advantage of this and knotted things up with 44 seconds left with two free throws before the McBride shot helped the Warriors escape with the victory.

Skeen finished with 12 points and Zach Heglemeyer had eight points for Del Norte.

Today the Warriors play in the title game at 7 p.m.

They will face the winner of Friday’s late game of Brookings-Harbor against Myrtle Point. If it is the  Bruins it will be the second time this year Del Norte will face the host team. Last Saturday at a tournament in Yreka the Warriors fell to Brookings by 13.