FREMONT – Every win feels good, especially when wins have been hard to come by. But, even in the hardest of times, certain wins feel better than others.
But winning a third-straight game and doing so on an arch-rival’s home court in front of a large, frenzied crowd in a frenetic fourth quarter? Wins just don’t come any sweeter than that.
Fremont Ross can testify to that after taking a thrilling 70-61 victory over Sandusky Saturday night, scoring a season-high output in the second of back-to-back nights, while also giving a tremendous effort on the defensive end of the floor.
The final eight minutes were a back-and-forth seesaw of big shots made by both teams. Ross grew its lead to seven less than a minute into the fourth before Sandusky answered with a six-point run of its own to cut the Little Giant lead down to one midway through the quarter.
Ross, however, roared back with an eight-point run, threatening to blow the game open, leading by nine with 2:45 to play. But Sandusky’s Keith Williams’ inbounded the ball off McKinstry’s back and scored. Second later, Williams scored again off a Ross turnover, just like that cutting the Blue Streak deficit down to just five.
Keyon Sewell answered for Ross with a big 3-pointer, which Sandusky answered on their next trip down the court with a 3-pointer of the own and the gym at Sandusky was roaring with approval.
Friday night, Ross had trouble hitting its free throws late, which nearly cost them the game as Central Catholic as a shot at the end to win the game. The Little Giants gave the Blue Streaks not breaks at the free throw line Saturday. Ross was a perfect 10-for-10 at the line in the fourth quarter and was 17-20 for the game. Sandusky, on the other hand, made just 1 of 7 free throws.
Maliek Johnson finished with 15 points, including 6-for-6 at the line, all coming in the fourth quarter. Sewell led Ross with 19 points while Jabryis Heidelburg added 10 points. Bryce Root and Bryce McKinstry each grabbed 12 rebounds.
Ross’ record improves to 6-10 overall and closes a week in which the Little Giants won three games since Tuesday night.
For more details, visit the Ross Sports Report.