Gabriel Gordillo / The SWC Sun
COUNTS LIKE A BLOWOUT—Southwestern College had a major scare as Cerro Coso scored 10 points in 51 seconds but left a winner.
By Gabriel Gordillo
One and far from done.
The Jaguars claimed their first win of the season at home against Cerro Coso College of Ridgecrest, California, in a 57-56 thriller when forward Derek Edmond rattled home a mid-range fadeaway, his 26th and 27th points of the game and the two most important of the young season. SWC is now 1-2 after a bumpy start.
“It feels good,” he said. “I know today we needed a win really badly. After those first two games, we weren’t happy. It feels good to win.”
SWC led the entire second half up and looked like it might pull away when the air seemed to leak from their tires. With six minutes left Cerro Coso went on a lightening 10-point run to take the lead. They needed just 51 seconds of game clock.
Jaguars head coach Tyrone Shelley was not having it.
“You gotta raise your voice a bit and make them understand (they’ve) been in this position before,” he said. “You can’t keep fouling. You can’t keep turning the ball over. We gotta calm down, we’re still in the game. There’s a lot of time on the clock and if we just execute on defense and get back to doing what we do on offense, we’ll be okay.”
Shelley leaned on point guard AJ Green and center Life Wade to lead the final five minutes. Green emerged as a vocal leader and modeled shut down defense. No one scored on him.
“I keep my faith in God,” he said. “I believe everybody has their moment and their time. I just give my all, keep my faith and put my best foot forward.”
Green came off the bench but may not be there for long after dishing three assists and no turnovers in his 12 minutes. One of those assists came in transition to center Wade, who had two offensive rebounds and two points in 11 minutes. Cerro Coso had to make the 225-mile bus trip home wearing an L.
“I feel I helped my team the best that I could,” he said. “I just tried supporting and playing my role. I’m just trying to do my best.”
Wade’s performance warranted an ovation from his peers during Shelley’s post-game speech.
“For my guys that didn’t play, it’s okay there will be tomorrow,” he said. “Don’t beat yourself up. I care about you guys, There will be opportunities for other games. Just trust me.”
Unlike the Cerro Coso, that was not the last shot. Many more to come.
