Edison boys one step from section hoops title

Published online on Wednesday, Mar. 04, 2009

First, it conquered Clovis West High. Then Buchanan.

And, finally, only Central remains for Edison to sweep the Tri-River Athletic Conference and capture the Central Section Division I boys basketball championship.

"It's going to be a big rivalry," Tigers guard Isaiah Gossett said after they rallied for a 61-58 home-court win over Buchanan on Wednesday night before a standing-room-only crowd, setting up a West Side Special at 8 p.m. Saturday at Selland Arena.

Gossett, with four 3-pointers to keep Edison within range in the first half, lockdown defense on Bears sharpshooter Jackson Carbajal in the second and two clinching free throws with 6 seconds remaining, thrust the Tigers into Selland for a fourth straight year.

Steven McClellan had 15 points and 13 rebounds - five shy of Buchanan's total as a team - for Edison, which lost to Clovis West in 2006 for the D-I title before defeating Tulare Western and Centennial for the past two D-II crowns.

The Tigers, 24-6 overall after going 10-0 in the County/Metro Athletic Conference, will be gunning for their 20th section championship. The first 19 decorate the west wall of their gymnasium in black and gold banners, ranging from 1936 to 2008.

It's that tradition that can inspire a team to victory, and perhaps that was the case against the Bears - merely 15-13 overall, a 3-7 TRAC finisher and a No. 9 seed coming in.

But it was Buchanan, somehow reaching deep for more after shocking top-seeded and two-year reigning D-I champion Clovis East 70-69 on the road in Friday's quarterfinals, that had Edison reeling 31-21 with 5:30 remaining in the first half as freshman Alex Fertig and junior Carbajal staged a perimeter shooting clinic.

And the Bears still remained in control, 36-29, with 2 minutes to go in the half, when momentum shifted dramatically.

The Tigers closed the half with a 7-0 run to tie it, 36-36, as Gossett drilled a 3-pointer, McClellan made two free throws and Chris Fields executed a rim-bending slam on a textbook lob by Jereol Walker in the final seconds.

"That's something we couldn't do in the beginning of the season," Edison coach Arturo Ormond said.

Elevated back into Clovis East and Clovis West D-I country this season, did he think he'd return to Selland a month ago?

"Honestly, no," said Ormond, who replaced every starter from last year's 28-5 outfit that made the Southern California Regional championship. "But to this team's credit, they took all my mess, stuck together and made us better for it."

The Tigers will carry a 12-game winning streak into the game with Central (22-7), which lost 83-58 to Edison in December before pulling out a 66-65 homecourt thriller against the same team in early January.

"We know each other," Ormond said. "No matter who we're playing, it's about where we're playing, and we're playing at Selland again."

Fertig scored 21 points and Carbajal finished with 16 after a 14-point first half for Buchanan, which continues to make strides under four-year coach Eric Swain.

"I thought we had them on the ropes," he said. "But we've got a lot of young guys, and we're going to be good."