Rangers survive scare from Thacher in NHS tournament
by Jesse Phelps

The Thacher Toads came so close to taking down Nordhoff in an early season matchup of local basketball teams Thursday night in the opening round of the 60th Nordhoff Basketball Tournament.
"My freshman year we lost (to Nordhoff) by 30. My sophomore year, we lost by 20. This is the best performance of a Thacher team, since, I think the year before I got here," said Chris Willoughby, minutes after he and the rest of the Thacher boys' varsity basketball team walked off the court with an improbably close defeat at the hands of the Rangers, 52-48.
If Willoughby sounded happy with the loss, don't blame him. He'd just had the game of his life as the Toads narrowly missed an upset of monumental proportions. Nordhoff has the much larger student body and doesn't bear the burden of academic qualifications which can severely limit availability of athletic talent to a school such as Thacher.
Willoughby led all scorers on the night, pouring in a career-high 24, including four three-pointers. He and first-year starting center Will Johnson combined to give Thacher an inside presence on defense as well. Willoughby blocked five shots and Johnson added 12 boards.
This was Nordhoff's tournament and the Rangers entered the game as the clear favorite. The Toads played a zone defense, which kept the Ranger set offense stagnant for much of the night.
Nordhoff got much of its offense from transition off of steals and defensive rebounds. Ranger point guard Garret Stroup continually drove the length of the court in the second half, scoring on a variety of athletic lay-ups to keep pace with the Thacher three-point barrage.
With 43 seconds left in the third quarter, and Nordhoff clinging to a 34-32 lead, Stroup buried a three. But Willoughby answered from downtown as the third quarter buzzer sounded and Thacher was within two at the start of the fourth quarter.
After a bucket from T.J. Murphy, Johnson got an offensive board and fed Willoughby. Two Sullivan freethrows tied the game but Stroup got free for a layup to put the rangers ahead by a basket.
The teams continued to trade hoops. Thacher senior point guard Brenton Sullivan's three pulled Thacher to within a point with just under six minutes remaining but Murphy answered with a three point play.
Neither team could grab control until the final few minutes. After opening a five-point lead, the Rangers stiffened defensively, forcing three jump balls and several Thacher turnovers. In the final minute, Thacher was forced to foul.
Micah Nylander hit two of four freethrows to put Nordhoff up six but then committed his fifth foul as Thacher's Graham Douds launched a three point shot. Douds went to the line and made two of three shots, but with only one second left, Thacher never got another chance to tie it.
"We did pretty well out there," said Thacher Coach Jayson Carney, in a massive understatement.
The Toads now have some time off for the holidays before resuming play versus Cate on Jan. 10. Nordhoff plays next at the Fillmore Tournament from Dec. 12-14.

© 2002 The Ojai Valley News

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