Modesto snags quarterfinal win

At any moment, Christian Ellis can strike like a three-hit combo, covering the floor in a flash.

The steal lands like a punch to the gut. The spin move through the lane – orchestrated at top speed – leaves the defense head-spun. And the finish, with either hand, is often the catalyst for a knockout blow by the Modesto Christian boys basketball team.

On most nights.

On Friday, Oak Ridge of El Dorado Hills swung back, taking this Sac-Joaquin Section Division I quarterfinal to the scorecards.

Ellis scored a game-high 21 points and thrilled home fans with his dribble and strength in the lane, but the seventh-seeded Trojans kept the pressure on in a taut 55-47 loss.

The win sends No. 2 Modesto Christian (28-1) back to Sleep Train Arena for Wednesday’s semifinal round against No. 3 Sheldon of Sacramento.

The Crusaders also clinched a berth in the CIF state tournament with their 28th consecutive victory. However, few of those wins have required so much of the starters late into the fourth quarter.

Oak Ridge outscored Modesto Christian 26-24 in the second half and kept the game close with seven three-pointers.

“We’re from the (Sierra Foothill League), pound for pound the best Division I league around,” Oak Ridge coach Bobby Edwards said. “We weren’t scared of these guys. They weren’t nothing to us in the fact that we weren’t scared.”

The margin of victory was the smallest for the Crusaders in nearly three months. Modesto Christian had won 24 straight by 10 or more points. The last time the Crusaders had to sweat out a victory was a 57-54 decision over Archbishop Mitty of San Jose at the Father Barry Christmas Classic on Dec. 11.

“This time of year, all it’s about is winning. For us, I’m happy,” coach Richard Midgley said. “We didn’t play our best game, but we stayed together and made plays and stops when we had to. Like I just told them, it doesn’t matter. Just win and you move on to the next one. We’ll regroup and move on to Sheldon. We’ll be fine.”

Ellis was the only player in double figures for Modesto Christian. He answered the Trojans’ third-quarter charge with one of his own.

After Oak Ridge cut the deficit to 34-30 with a 9-3 spurt, Modesto Christian closed the quarter on a 12-3 run. Ellis scored the final eight points, delivering a three-hit combo with less a minute remaining. He swiped a ball in front of the Oak Ridge bench, barreled down on a defender and spun toward the basket for a right-handed layup.

“It wasn’t about taking over,” Ellis said. “It was more like stepping it up another notch. What hurt us is that we came out of the half and everyone seemed cold and relaxed. No one had energy.”

Oak Ridge harassed 6-foot-10 Robinson Idehen with a sagging 2-3 zone. Idehen mustered just six points to go with 11 rebounds and five blocked shots.

“We couldn’t get a good touch inside,” Midgley said. “They did a good job of shifting the zone toward him.”

Darrian Grays and Josthin Dawkins also had six points, and Jay Chen netted all five of his points in the fourth quarter. The reserve buried a three-pointer to start the period and sealed the win from the free-throw line with 23 seconds left.

Oak Ridge scored the first points on a put-back over Idehen and carried that confidence throughout the game.

Each time the Crusaders threatened to pull away, the Trojans reeled them in with a three-pointer by Matt Battaglia.

“They played a lot better than any team we’ve played this year. They came out with confidence and came out fast,” Ellis said. “We had to wake up and step it up. It was a good learning experience, waking us up for the playoffs.”

Battaglia was 5 of 10 from beyond the arc and totaled 15 points. Twice, he cut Modesto Christian’s lead to single digits with a three-pointer in the second half.

“We kept leaving him open,” Midgley said, “which was frustrating.”

In the locker room afterward, Midgley discussed “perception versus reality” with his flustered bunch. The perception, he said, is that Modesto Christian is expected to pulverize its opposition because of its track record, collection of talent and well-deserved state ranking.

The Crusaders are seeded No. 2 in the D-I tournament behind Folsom, but they’re the top-ranked team in Northern California and No. 6 in the state.

Idehen (No. 8) and Ellis (No. 40) are fast-rising prospects in Cal-Hi Sports’ Hot 100, and sophomore Tyler Williams is charting his course at No. 62 in the Class of 2018.

The reality, though, is that tournament basketball is a matter of survival. Stature doesn’t impact the scoreboard, and teams can’t take points with them into the next game.

Good thing, too, because Modesto Christian might have been in serious trouble Wednesday. No. 3 Sheldon punched its ticket with a 104-59 victory over Granite Bay.

“There’s a lot of pressure on our team to win by a certain margin,” Midgley said. “All that matters is that we got the win. If we don’t win by a certain margin, everyone gets frustrated. It’s like, ‘No, all that matters is we got a win.’ What we had to do was win a game, and that’s what we did. A few of our guys really didn’t play well, and we still came away with it.”

This story was originally published February 26, 2016 at 11:39 PM with the headline "Modesto snags quarterfinal win."