Hanford West boys claim title

Webster leads Huskies to an upset of top-seeded Ridgeview.

Published online on Sunday, Mar. 08, 2009

Rodney Webster, nephew of a former major league pitcher, threw a curveball at top-seeded Ridgeview High while delivering another Central Section basketball title for the city of Hanford on Saturday at Selland Arena.

Webster, whose uncle, Ryan Bowen, made the bigs out of Hanford High, provided 24 points, seven rebounds, four assists and two steals as third-seeded Hanford West secured its first section crown with a 54-45 victory in Division III.

This followed a section title Friday by Hanford High's girls in D-II and a sweep by the Bullpups' boys and girls last year in D-III.

Those were expected; the one earned by the Huskies (20-11) was not.

Neither was the trickery pulled by Webster in the third quarter that launched their game-closing 22-13 run.

"Basketball IQ," Webster called it in the slickest and most unexpected move pulled by either gender in the five-year history of the two-day, 10-game format at Selland.

To set the stage: The score was tied 32-32 with Webster inbounding the ball under his team's basket.

Wolf Pack junior Shannon Ervin turned his back on Webster and the Huskies' junior point guard bounced the ball off him, caught it in the air and laid it in with 1 minute and 24 seconds remaining in the quarter.

Ridgeview (22-9) would never catch up.

"I found a weakness in the defense and it was right there," said Webster, adding that it was a lifetime first.

"That's all on him being an athlete," Hanford West coach Tim Caudillo said.

Saturday's performance brought instant credibility for Webster, who for two years has played in the shadow of Hanford guard Cougar Williams in the West Yosemite League, and then other equally celebrated guards this weekend at Selland such as Garces' Stephon Carter, Bakersfield Christian's Marcus Hall and Central Valley Christian's Lance Reeves.

"He's coming into his own," Caudillo said. "All week, he said, 'Coach, we're going to Selland to break even.' "

Webster, as a freshman, had been pulled up from the junior varsity to play on a Huskies team that lost 66-54 to Tehachapi for the 2007 D-III title.

This time, Hanford West, as a fourth-place, 5-7 finisher in the West Yosemite League, was matched against the Wolf Pack, the division's clear-cut top seed after finishing third in the larger Southeast Yosemite League at 9-3.

Ethen Carrell, a senior center, muscled Ridgeview inside for 14 points and 14 rebounds as the Huskies made a statement for the WYL, which produced four 20-win teams, also counting Lemoore, Hanford and Redwood.

"Our league's no joke," Caudillo said. "You've got to bring it every night."

Hanford West also took a community stance, having been chasing the superior Bullpups to the east for years.

"You have no idea how much [Hanford coach] Brad Felder has raised the bar in that town," Caudillo said. "That was my goal when I got there, to make sure we could play up to their standards. And we've got to that point."