Queque-swoosh!
<p>The Ronan bench celebrates Alex Quequesah’s game-tying 3-pointer as time expired in the fourth quarter of Friday’s game against Mission. The Chiefs went on to win the game in overtime.</p>
RONAN — Call it the biggest shot of Alex Quequesah’s life.
Ronan trailed Mission 62-59 with 10 seconds to play on Friday evening. Out of a timeout, one Chief went to the wrong spot. It was a broken play. The clock winding down, Quequesah found himself sprung open by a screen on the right elbow. His feet squared to the basket, the junior lifted a 25-footer.
Swoosh. Tie ballgame.
“That’s the biggest [shot of my career] by far,” Quequesah said. “The fact that it’s our first conference win and that it comes against Mission—those are our rivals, our friends—it’s real special for us.”
Never mind that Quequesah was 0-for-6 from 3-point territory before that shot, Ronan coach Steve Woll needed a dagger from downtown.
“In that situation, he was the best player on our team to take that shot,” Woll said. “That’s Alex. He wants the big shot. He wants to take the pressure. He wants to be the guy, and tonight he was.”
Ronan carried that momentum into overtime, dominating the fifth frame en route to a 72-63 victory over the rival Bulldogs.
“We never could regroup from that,” Mission coach Steve Pelletier said.
The Bulldogs are becoming the cardiac kids of the Mission Valley, and in all the wrong ways; Friday’s loss was the second buzzer-beating defeat in a row for Pelletier’s club.
“We’ve just got a little Achilles’ heel situation going on,” he said. “…But we’ll bounce back.”
One Bulldog reached a milestone on Friday, though. Stuart Grant, a returning all-state guard in the midst of another standout season, scored his 1,000th career point in the second quarter of the contest.
Woll said Grant has played 3-on-3 tournaments and gone to camps with his son, Tim, since the two were little.
“Stuart’s like a son to me,” the Ronan coach said. “What a great kid, and he deserves it.”
Grant finished with a game-high 19 points.
Woll couldn’t help but be excited by the Chiefs’ performance across the board. Coming in as the heavy underdog, Ronan relied on forwards Cedric Earthboy—a newly eligible Polson transfer—and Kollin Wroblewski, who combined for 32 points and 14 rebounds.
“Kollin stepped in and just bailed us out,” Woll said. “He was a monster down there, especially in the first half. He kept us in the game.”
Guard play was effective as well. Tim Woll dumped in 18 points, including seven of eight free throws in overtime, and Colton McCrea added nine points. Quequesah finished with seven.
“We’re just learning ourselves right now,” said Steve Woll. “It was a big win for us, our first conference win.”
Aaron Fisher-Ahenakew notched a double-double for Mission, scoring 15 points and corralling 13 rebounds.
Will Powell tacked on nine points for the Bulldogs, and Jarred Brown and Patrick Eichert each scored seven.
Score by Quarter
Mission 19 12 21 10 1 – 63
Ronan 17 15 15 15 10 – 72
Individual Scoring
MISSION – Jarred Brown 7, Stuart Grant 19, Tate Weingart 2, Patrick Eichert 7, Aaron Fisher-Ahenakew 15, Will Powell 9, Bill Von Holtum 4.
RONAN – Cedric Earthboy 18, Colton McCrea 9, Jarred Dupuis 1, Tim Woll 18, Alex Quequesah 7, Jeremiah North Piegan 3, Kollin Wroblewski 14, Daniel Aylesworth 2.