Foothill’s turnovers prove costly in final

It’s not often that a team that loses in the semifinals finds a way to win a tournament.

But when ThunderRidge (Colo.) couldn’t play in the championship game of the Foothill Holiday Classic because it had reached its game limit, National Prep (Ga.) got a second chance. And the Rebels forced 27 turnovers Monday on the way to a 65-54 win over Foothill for the Gold Division title.

“Our inexperience showed, finally,” Foothill coach Kevin Soares said. “It was the last game, unfortunately, but we’re going to learn from it and get better.”

Foothill led 35-29 at the half and held a 42-40 advantage after a Colin Curi basket with 11:03 remaining.

But that was the last time the Falcons would lead. Yahaya Sedibeh’s follow slam with 10:33 to go tied the game and sparked an 11-2 run that helped the Rebels take over for good.

National Prep forced 15 second-half turnovers and scored 21 points off turnovers in the game.

“We’ve just got to do a better job of taking care of the ball,” Soares said.

Darius Simmons scored all 16 of his points in the second half for National Prep, which lost 62-47 to ThunderRidge in the semifinals.

The Falcons pulled within five several times in the final seven minutes but could get no closer. The last time was on a drive by Kevin Woodland with 3:00 to play that cut the Rebels’ lead to 59-54.

The Falcons wouldn’t score again.

“Our whole goal is to win a regional title and hopefully make the state tournament,” Soares said. “Losing this championship, yeah it sucks, but I tell you what, if it’s going to benefit us down the stretch, we’ll take it.”

Gold Division Most Valuable Player Raimond Tribuntsov added 12 points and four assists for the Rebels.

Torrance Littles led the Falcons with 16 points, 11 rebounds and three blocked shots. The 6-foot, 7-inch senior fouled out with 1:57 to play.

Ryan Rapp hit four 3-pointers and scored 12 points, and Woodland added 10 points, seven rebounds and seven assists for Foothill. The Falcons were 6 for 15 on 3-pointers after making just 10 3-pointers in their first five games.

“We’re going to need it, because we’ve got an inside game this year, finally,” Soares said of the perimeter shooting. “So people are going to start keying on Torrance a little bit more, and our perimeter guys are going to have to be able to knock down 3s.”

Contact reporter Damon Seiters at dseiters@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-4587. Follow him on Twitter: @DamonSeiters.