Hill and Roldan Carry Seahawks Past Baker in Overtime
December 16, 2008
By Aaron Seybert
SWFLHoops.com
#11 Ida Baker @ #7 Cape Coral
CAPE CORAL—Tonight’s match-up between the Cape Coral Seahawks and Ida Baker Bulldogs marked one of the best high school games I have seen in a while. It had everything you would want in a good high school game, from top players battling back and forth guarding one another, to clutch free-throws, and most importantly, that one huge shot that ties the game to send it into overtime. Cape Coral junior Joel Hill’s game-tying, leaning three point basket over the outstretched arms of two Baker defenders with 5.1 seconds left in regulation was just an exclamation point to a highly intense affair on Tuesday night inside the Seahawk “Nest. Hill’s basket tied the game at 68 apiece and sent the game into overtime. Cape outscored the Bulldogs 11 to 8 in the extra period to come away with the 79-76 Lee County Athletic Conference win.
“I was just hoping it got past (John) Skinner’s hand to be honest, but after it did I just watched as it went through the bottom of the net,” said the 6’3 Hill, who finished with 23 points to go along with 10 rebounds, 4 assists, 4 steals, and an impressive 14 of 16 from the foul line. “We tried to run a play but when it broke down we went into our motion offense. I just wanted to go get the ball and make a play for my team.”
“Joel wanted the ball,” said Cape Coral head coach Mark Rhinehart after the win. “When the play broke down I was just about to call a timeout when Joel got a little room off the screen. He didn’t hesitate, and knocked it down. I’ve tried to tell people to come watch him. The kid can play.”
The end of the game however was just the climactic end to a crowd pleasing contest that saw five lead changes and six ties. Baker in fact looked to be the better team to start the game.
The Bulldogs jumped out to a 16-8 lead at one point in the 1st period, however sophomores Josh Monteagudo and James McIntyre came off the bench two combine for 7 points and keep the Seahawks within reach, with the quarter closing out at 16-11 Baker’s advantage. Hill had four points in the quarter as well on 4 of 4 from the foul line.
However, in the second it was all about Cape Coral senior guard Yoko Roldan. Although just 5 feet 8 inches tall, Roldan played like he was the biggest man in the gym during a one minute and forty-three second span in the second period. With his team down 14-20 with just over 5 minutes left before the half, Roldan went OFF. He scored the next 9 points for the Seahawks, and had a personal 9-2 run that culminated with him giving his team their first lead of the game at 23-22 with 3:31 remaining in the quarter, when he put in a layup off pass from senior Cameron Hall. He finished his dynamic quarter with 11 total points, including one three point bucket.
The lead flip flopped a couple more times with Baker ultimately taking a 33-30 advantage into the locker room for intermission. Senior John Skinner was pacing Baker with game-highs thus far of 12 points and 7 rebounds. Roldan was leading the Seahawks with those 11 points, while leading scorer Hill only had 6 points.
In the third, Roldan continued to be on a roll. With 4:52 remaining in the quarter, Roldan tied the game back up at 40 with his second three point basket, and eighth point since the half. However, Cape got long-range happy and started settling for too many outside jumpers that were not falling. Baker took advantage and again looked to be superior team as they used a 10-0 run in the last four minutes to get the lead to as many as 10, at 50-40, before settling for a 52-44 advantage heading into the fourth. Skinner was holding steady as he added 6 more to his total, giving him 18 up to this point.
“Attack the basket,” called out Hill, speaking to his teammates after getting fouled on his drive to the hoop with the score sitting at 50-40 in the third. He was frustrated at his teammates shot selection over the last part of the quarter, and knew they needed to be more aggressive.
Well, Hill’s leadership paid dividends as the Seahawks got more aggressive at his request and consequently went on a 12-2 run spanning over the next 3 minutes and 22 seconds, including the last 1:45 of the third and first 1:37 of the fourth, tying the game on senior Wellington Tavarez’s layup at 52-52 with 6:23 remaining. He also led by example, as he chipped in 6 of the 12 points on the run, including a big three pointer to start the 8-0 portion of the run to start the fourth.
However, Baker answered the call and took the lead right back on a runner by senior Zach Campbell. Cape tied it back up at 59-59 with 2:33 left on a three pointer from McIntyre, who finished with 8 for the game, off a pass from senior Justin Mitchell. But Campbell did it again, giving the Bulldogs the advantage right back with his layup on a pass from Skinner with 2:05 remaining.
With 27 seconds left in the game, and Baker ahead 65-63, Cameron Hall went to the free throw line for 1 and 1. His proceeded to miss the front end, but Hill was there to grab the offensive rebound and got fouled as he went back up. He went to the line, shooting two.
Hill made both, tying the game at 65-65 with 25.4 seconds remaining.
On the Bulldogs ensuing possession, Skinner took a pass from Campbell, made the layup, and was fouled by Tavarez. He knocked down the free throw, putting his team back ahead 68-65 with just 19.6 seconds left, and setting up THE shot.
Cape brought ball up court, and after a called play failed to work, it was time to just get an open shot. Hill took a hand-off from Hall, and with two defenders in his face, elevated, leaning to the left and falling away, and drilled a deep three with 5.4 seconds on the clock. He shot down the court in excitement thinking the game was over, but Baker managed to call a timeout. The referees discussed it, and put 3.5 seconds back on the play clock. However, on Baker’s ensuing inbounds play Skinner could not find an open man as the clock ran out. OVERTIME!
On the jump tip starting the overtime period, Roldan scooped up the ball from in front of Campbell and drives down the court for the layup, giving Cape its first lead since the 2:45 mark of the second quarter. The Seahawks managed to hold on to that lead for the rest of extra period and came away with the win. Baker had a chance at the end to tie but senior Xavier Battle’s three point attempt was tipped as he let it go, ending the game at 79-76.
We asked coach Rhinehart after the game what he can look to take out of this game. "To go on the road and beat a good Barron Collier team, and then pull out a win like this over Baker, whether it counts in the district or not, is big. Hopefully, this can take us another step closer to becoming a team that no one wants to face in the future."
Hill had this to add after the game, "Our team motto is 'It's All About Us'. That means we can't focus on who the other team is, good or bad, we just have to play our game. You can never look past anyone. Baker is a good team, but we feel like if we come out and play our game we should be able to win."
For Cape Coral, Roldan finished with 22 points for the game, including 3 treys and with 19 of them coming during the 2nd and 3rd quarters. Tavarez chipped in with 8 points to go along with 9 rebs. Hill scored 23 in all, including 3 treys, but 12 of those came in the fourth quarter alone and 17 were after halftime. Hall finished with 9 points, 5 assists, and 3 steals as well. Cape Coral returns to action this Thursday at home versus North Fort Myers in the North of the River Classic.
For Baker, Skinner did his best to give the Bulldogs the win finishing with game-highs of 25 points and 11 rebs, including 8 on the offensive end. Senior Ron Ward chipped in with 13 points and 11 rebounds of his own. Zach Campbell battled through foul trouble throughout the game but still managed to score 9 points and pull down 5 rebounds. Baker returns to action on December 27th when they will take part in the Naples Daily News Gulf Shore Shootout at Golden Gate HS.
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