Butte topples COR for share of conference title
By Joseph Shufelberger, jshufelberger@chicoer.com
Butte Valley >> Go big or go home? It's not even a question for the Butte College men's basketball team.
With College of the Redwoods cutting down the Roadrunners' double-digit lead to 54-53 with 7 minutes, 30 seconds left in the second half, the Roadrunners turned to Arthur Caldwell, the reigning Golden Valley Conference Most Valuable Player, who got plenty of help from fellow frontcourt teammate and Corning High grad Michael Shoemaker.
The result was an 80-67 victory Saturday night over the Corsairs for the Roadrunners' ninth straight overall win that guaranteed Butte at least a share of the GVC title for the second straight season and secured a playoff spot thanks to a sweep over second-place Lassen.
The victory also is the 18th straight in conference play for the Roadrunners, ranked eighth in the state and fourth among Northern California teams. With an unbeaten GVC run last year when Caldwell was MVP, Butte's last loss in conference was Feb. 21, 2013, a 66-42 setback to Shasta.
Shoemaker scored 20 points, Jud Sailsbery had 19, Nikolas Petruk added 18, and Caldwell had 17 points, many of them when Butte needed a score (17-7, 8-0 GVC). Paradise High products Dominic Parisi and Matt McGregor each chipped in two, while McGregor collected a team-high three of the Roadrunners' nine steals on defense.
"We wanted to go through (Caldwell) or the impression that we're going through him," said Roadrunners coach Russ Critchfield, who even mentioned the Seattle Seahawks' ill-fated goal-line play that cost them the Super Bowl last weekend — he wasn't going to over-think things. "Everything rotates through our bigs."
Two Shoemaker free throws with 7:13 remaining made it 56-53, and Justin Claus' 3-pointer was off-target for Redwoods. A Shoemaker basket came after a Caldwell offensive rebound, and then Caldwell scored himself.
"The good thing about this team is we have sophomores who have been there before so we're experienced. We know how to get through big games like this," Caldwell said.
Butte had a double-digit lead late in the first half, but Romeo Steele hit a 3 and a Roadrunners' turnover when they were trying to take the last shot resulted in a transition layup that beat the buzzer, drawing the Corsairs within 39-34.
Melvin Washington led Redwoods (10-13, 4-4 GVC) with 18 points. Johnny Shelton had 13, and Justin Claus added 10.
Butte opened the second half with an 11-2 run capped by a Sailsbery jumper, leaving the Roadrunners up 50-36 less than five minutes into the second half.
Redwoods, though, trimmed the margin as Butte missed its first six free throws after halftime.
"I thought we went stale for a little while," Critchfield said. "We weathered the storm. Our kids found their poise, and we made some really key power plays with Arthur."
With a minute-plus left, Sailsbery, an Orland grad, hit a tough inside drive despite contact and converted the 3-point play for a 69-59 Butte lead, and the team found its touch at the line as well, increasing the lead.
"This team has been very resilient. They've found their stride," said Critchfield, who added that a share of the GVC title wouldn't satisfy the Roadrunners. "We want it outright so our focus is going to be on Siskiyous next Saturday."
Caldwell said the same — with an eye on an even bigger prize.
"We still have two big games left. We want to go undefeated," Caldwell said. "We have our focus on the playoffs. We want to try to get to state.
"We have our eyes on the state championship," he said.
Butte hosts Siskiyous at 7:30 p.m. Saturday in the regular-season home finale.
http://www.paradisepost.com/sports/20150210/butte-men-topple-cor-for-share-of-conference-title
photo by Mike Jackson