Modesto’s Beyer upsets Rio Linda in section basketball playoffs

Beyer High’s Brian Perry scored four points in the final minute and Brandon “Bam Bam” Gray made a pair of key defensive plays to help the sixth-seeded Patriots to a 52-51 upset of No. 3 Rio Linda on Friday in the quarterfinals of the Sac-Joaquin Section Division II boys basketball tournament.

“It was a real high-intensity defensive game,” said Kyle McKim, who has led the Patriots to the playoffs in each of his three seasons as head coach but is making his first trip to the semifinal round. “We played poorly in the first quarter, but we just slowly chipped away the rest of the game. Slowly, slowly, slowly.”

Beyer (21-8) trailed by one with about a minute to play when Perry, co-MVP of the Modesto Metro Conference, hit a floating jumper near the free-throw line that gave his team the lead.

“The shot clock was running down so it was one where I had to kind of put one up,” said Perry, who finished the game with 20 points. “It wasn’t a good look. I thought it was a shot, to be honest. But it went in.”

Perry then added a pair of free throws to make it 52-49, before Rio Linda’s Cashius Williams scored to make it a one-point game again.

Gray then came up with back-to-back defensive gems that help seal the victory.

Gray tipped an inbound pass that Zethan Dumpson tried to corral but fumbled it out of bounds.

“I knew (Dumpson) was their key player and that the game depend on him,” said Gray. “The only thing I wanted to do was to shut down. I just wanted to deny him the ball and play the best defense I could.”

The Knights got the ball in on a subsequent inbound play, but Gray was in the way again.

“I walled up on (Dumpson) and he tried to dribble through me,” said Gray. “They lost the ball again and we recovered.”

The Patriots advance to face No. 2 Burbank (26-3), an 83-64 winner over No. 10 Yuba City on Friday. They’ll play Wednesday at 3 p.m. at the University of the Pacific in Stockton.

“We played at UOP before in summer tournaments,” said Gray. We know the court and feel like we have a good chance. We’ve just got to focus and do what we do.”

Two years ago, the Patriots were on the verge of the section semifinals but lost 85-82 to Cosumnes Oaks in double overtime.

“This win gives us a ton of confidence,” said McKim, a graduate of Beyer High. “We’ talked about taking the next step this year as a program. This was the next step.

“We’re not scared of Wednesday.”

This story was originally published February 25, 2017 at 4:40 PM with the headline "Modesto’s Beyer upsets Rio Linda in section basketball playoffs."