BOYS’ BASKETBALL 2004-05
SEASON END

BOYS’ BASKETBALL- last game
SEASON END

Despite leading 21-13 at the end of the first quarter after hitting five three-pointers, the Eagles could not stop Central Valley Christian’s Anthony Luckey in the second and lost, 73-58, on Feb. 25 in the second round of the Central Section’s Division V playoffs. FC had a first round bye.

FC had trouble restarting their offense in the second quarter as CVC outscored them 17-5 to take a 30-26 half time lead. The teams traded baskets in a hotly contested third quarter even though FC had trouble scoring behind the three-point arc. Luckey scored 12 of his 28 points in the second period to lead CVC.

The fourth quarter belonged to the No. 3 team in Division V as CVC outscored No. 6 FC, 26-15, to blow open a close game. Senior Josh Wright led the Eagles with 21 points while team leading scorer senior Ross Charest was held to only 17 in the loss. Senior Layne Meadows rounded out the Eagles’ double-digit scoring with 12 points.

According to The Fresno Bee on Mar. 1, Ross Charest was bumped down to the second place slot as the Central Section Basketball scoring leader trailing behind Tre’Von Willis of Washington Union High School. Charest completed the season with an average of 24.0 points per game and a total of 648 points over 27 games. Willis completed the season with 727 points in 29 games with an average of 25.1.

Ross Charest broke Matt Rhines’ 1993 school record of 634 points with his 648.

Basketball’s overall record is 15-13 and 8-6 in the West Sierra League finished fourth as of Feb. 25.

FINAL REGULAR SEASON GAME

The Eagles rebounded from a 15-point half time deficit and took a 4-point lead into the last three minutes of the game but lost a heart-breaker to the undefeated Blue Raiders of Caruthers, 75-80, on Feb. 18.

Senior Ross Charest scored a game-high 31 points to lead the Eagles who again played without two junior regulars. But senior Josh Wright played one of his best games of the season and added 17 points and senior Mark Bonnar was a force in the middle scoring 11 points.

FC led 18-17 after the first quarter with both teams trading baskets. The second quarter belonged to Caruthers as they bolted to a 39-24 half time lead. Caruthers led by as many as 17 points in the third but the Eagles closed the gap to 55-51 by quarter’s end.

The gym crowd was deafening as both teams made runs in the fourth in a hotly contested game. At times Caruthers looked as though they may be beaten for the first time this year as the Eagles led by four with three minutes left. But their well-balanced attack, defensive stand and clutch free throws in the last two minutes gave Caruthers its 14th straight W.S.L. win.

This was the last home game of the season and the seniors were honored.

FC defeated Madera-Liberty, 59-57, on Feb. 16 to now go 8-5 in the WSL. Ross Charest led with 22 points followed by Wess Wells,16. The boys were able to finish the game with a 19-2 run to overtake a large Hawk lead.

The Eagles traveled to Cowboy land and defeated Riverdale, 62-60, on Feb. 11. Senior Ross Charest rebounded from a poor shooting performance last game and scored a game-high 21 points as the Eagles squeaked out a win in a sea-saw battle in hostile territory. Wes Wells contributed 16 points as the Eagles played without two former starters.

The Eagles suffered their third loss in a row when they were defeated by the Tranquillity Tigers, 35-60, on Feb. 8. The boys fell victim to a poor shooting night and senior Ross Charest finished with a season-low 10 points.

The Eagles were defeated by the Fowler Redcats, 61-81, on Feb. 4. The Eagles led 38-36 at half time but were never able to regain their lead despite Ross Charest’s 26 points.

FC beat Mendota, 71-40, with Ross Charest’s game high 19 points. The Eagles soared past the Aztecs dominating them by only allowing five points in each of the second and fourth quarters.

FC lost to the Blue Raiders, 89-74, on Jan. 26 despite Ross Charest’s game high 32 points. Caruthers remains undefeated at 7-0.

Down by 12 in the first quarter, the Eagles fell further behind, 28-41, by the half. Despite Wes Well’s 11 points and Layne Medow’s 12 adn outscoring the Blue Raiders, 27-20, in the third, the Eagles were unable to recover from their deficit.

The Eagles dominated Liberty-Madera’s court on Jan. 21 and defeated their hosts, 82-38.

The boys’ began the first quarter strong, leading 21-2 by the second. FC continued their lead through halftime, 25-15, and outscored Liberty, 21-13, in the third quarter to put the game away.

Ross Charest lead the Eagles, scoring 32 points with fellow senior Layne Meadows making 18 and junior Matthew Brouwer adding 11 points.

After being down 13-3 at the end of the second quarter, FC turned tables against Riverdale at the half, 26-17, and defeated the visitors, 48-46, on Jan. 18.

Ross Charest lead the Eagles with 21 points and made 2 free throw shots for the win with 10 seconds left in the game. Lane Meadows and Josh Wright added 7 each.

After Tranquillity dominated the court at first half, 11-16, FC reversed the score board, 16-9, and defeated the Tigers, 56-46, on Jan. 14.

Ross Charest lead the Eagles with 24 points, Matthew Brouwer scored 11 and Seth Lane added 8.

The Eagles were defeated by Fowler, 63-66, on Jan. 11.

After being down at half, 12-10, the Eagles were unable to recover.

Ross Charest led the team with 28 points follwed by Wes Wells with 15 and Brandon Cain with 7.

The boys won their sixth straight game and remain unbeaten in the West Sierra League as they defeated Firebaugh on the road, 69-66, on Jan. 7. Ross Charest continued his leadership on the court and led the team with 25 points.

Despite being down by two points at half (39-37), FC led 53-51 at the end of the third but could not pull away from the hometown Eagles during the fourth. Wesley Wells stepped up and scored 17 points and played more than a supporting role as he added another threat to the oft-predictable FC offense.

The visiting Eagles however, still hit nine 3-point shots despite Firebaugh’s pressure to keep FC outside their range. Seth Lane added 11 points while his tenacious defense held Firebaugh’s top scorers Nick Gonzales (17 points) and Jake Elsdon (21 points) from taking over the game. Firebaugh fell to 0-2 in the W.S.L.

In an all too familiar scene this season, the Eagles fell behind early but got into a rythmn by half time and defeated Mendota going away, 75-55, on Jan. 5. The Aztecs could not defend the 3-point line and outside shooting as the Eagles scored on 10 shots from behind the arc despite being on the road.

Mendota jumped out to a 17-13 first quarter lead, but the boys’ basketball team rebounded in the second to overpower the Aztecs to a 37-26 lead by half time. Brandon Cain jump-started the Eagle offense with three 3-point shots by half to quiet the hometown crowd in his only points of the game.

Leading scorer, Ross Charest, again led FC with 26 points including six 3-pointers as the Eagles won for the fifth time in a row. Wesley Wells and Seth Lane each added 11 points while Layne Meadows scored 10 in supporting roles.

FRESNO CHRISTIAN HOLIDAY CHAMPIONSHIPS, Dec. 28-30

The Eagles were defeated by Firebaugh, 43-50, bringing their league record to 6-3. Down by nine in the first quarter, the Eagles were never able to regain points leaving the half at 18-25 despite Ross Charest’s 19 points.

The Eagles will travel next to Fowler for their game on Feb. 4 at 7:00.

FC went 4-0 in the Fresno Christian Holiday Invitational Championships and defeated Orosi, 56-53, in the final using the 3-point line to erase an earlier double-digit deficit on Dec. 30.

Despite being down by 10 points to the Cardinals early in the second quarter, FC roared back to a brief tie (22) near the end of the first half under the 3-point shooting of senior Ross Charest.

Charest made seven of the Eagles’ 11 3-point shots, including the winner in the final minute, leading all players with 29 points. He also was named the tournament’s MVP.

While first-half turnovers and poor shooting set the Eagles behind early, they rebounded and stifled the Cardinal attack in the second quarter to close the deficit to 24-22.

The team’s traded baskets in a 14-14 draw in the third and the game was tied 53 with less than a minute remaining when Charest hit his final 3-pointer to send the home squad and the fans into a frenzy.

Juniors Seth Lane and Brandon Cain each added 9 points to Charest’s game-high total. But the team’s defense, which had bent all game, frustrated the Cardinals during the remaining seconds.

Lane also joined Charest as both were named to the all-tournament team along with Orosi’s Frankie Manquero, who scored 23 points in the final, and Tony Hernandez, who added 19 points.

In the third-place game of the tournament, Sierra defeated Caruthers, 69-66.

The host Eagles bolted to a perfect 3-0 in the Fresno Christian Holiday Invitational Championships on Dec. 29. FC defeated Sierra High, 57-47, despite a late charge by the Chieftains. FC led, 32-24, at half and seemed to run away with the game in the third, outscoring Sierra, 14-7. The stubborn visitors outscored the Eagles 16-11 in the final frame but could not overcome the 46-31 third quarter deficit.

Ross Charest led the Eagles with 17 points while Josh Wright scored 10 and Matt Brouwer added 8.

FC routed Tranquillity, 65-44, in the early game of the Fresno Christian Holiday Championships on Dec. 29. However, the Tigers played FC basket for basket in the first quarter and FC only led, 32-28, at half. The second half belonged to Ross Charest as the junior scored 21 points to lead the Eagles. Seth Lane added 10 while Brandon Cain and Josh Wright each scored 9 points.

FC jumped out to a 20-12 first quarter lead in the opening game of their Fresno Christian Holiday Championships and went on to defeat Farmersville, 79-44, on Dec. 28. Ross Charest continued to spark the team as he scored 14 points. FC led 39-24 by half-time and outscored the Aztecs each quarter. including 20-5 in the fourth. Layne Meadows added 12 points and Wesley Wells scored 10.

SAN DIEGO SMALL SCHOOL’S TOURNAMENT – Dec. 8-11

FC led 26-19 at half-time in a hotly contest but pulled away from San Ysidro in the third quarter and defeated them, 67-41, on Dec. 11 in the San Diego Small Schools Tournament. The Eagles outscored San Ysidro, 25-15, in the third quarter and matched baskets in the fourth. Ross Charest scored a game-high 27 points and Wesley Wells added 14 to lead the Eagles.

FC led 15-9 in the first quarter but were outscored 15-8 in the second as Calipatria battled FC in the San Diego Small Schools Tournament on Dec. 10. Ross Charest scored 24 points, but the Eagles came out flat after half-time and were down 39-32 after the third quarter. Seth Lane added 14 points and the Eagles picked up the pace in the fourth quarter but only traded baskets with Calientra and lost their second game in a row, 62-54.

FC fell behind 29-14 in the first quarter and were outscored in the first three quarters as Santa Fe Christian beat FC, 88-59 on Dec. 9 at the San Diego Small Schools Tournament. Despite scoring 31 points, Ross Charest was not enough for the Eagles in their second game of the tournament. Seth Lane was the only teammate to score in double figures with 13 points.

FC defeated Midway Baptist, 77-46 on Dec. 8. Beginning with a 20-8 lead, FC continued to dominate the court with a 23-17 advantage at half-time then rolled on a 21-9 score and finished off the game with a score of 11-12. FC had nine 3-pointers. Ross Charest scored 18 points for the Eagles followed by Wesley Wells and Brandon Cain with 13 each.

McLane led 28-13 by half-time and went on to defeat FC, 60-38, in the fifth place game of the Kerman Tournament, Dec. 4. McLane held top FC scorer, Ross Charest, to only 11 points. Wesley Wells added 10 points and Seth Lane scored 9 in the loss.

KERMAN TOURNAMENT – Dec. 1-3

Despite scoring over 30 points for the third consecutive game, FC lost to Exeter, 67-71, on Dec. 3 in the Kerman Tournament. Ross Charest scored 37 points while Brandon Cain added 9 and Wesley Wells scored 8 points in the loss.

FC lost to Selma 60-67 on Dec. 2. Ross Charest led the team with 30 points, Seth Lane added 10 while Layne Meadows scored 7.

FC defeated Kingsburg at the Kerman Tournament on Dec. 1 69-60. Ross Charest made 36 points for the team as the top scorer. Westley Wells scored 5 points, Lane Meadows, 5, Seth Lane, 5, Brandon Cain, 6, Aaron Gulack, 7, Mark Bonnar, 5.