Rally redeems Rancho

Nick Christensen

Wednesday, Jan. 12, 2005 | 9:08 a.m.

Up 12 points early in the fourth quarter against division rival Rancho, Desert Pines' boys basketball team looked ready to coast to a home upset.

But a night after it was unable to recover from a sluggish third quarter in a surprising loss at Eldorado, Rancho wasn't about to allow for a repeat performance.

Rancho outscored the Jaguars 21-3 in the fourth quarter to come back for a 56-50 win Tuesday at Desert Pines. Rams guard Tyrell Timpson scored eight of his game-high 20 points in the fourth quarter, and Rancho's defense didn't allow a Desert Pines field goal until Martez Christian's layup with just under three minutes to play.

Ariece Perkins hit a jumper with 56 seconds to play to give the Rams the lead for good. Perkins' jumper came after Rancho players passed the ball among themselves on one possession for a full 60 seconds.

Three points in a quarter is usually a formula for failure, as it was Tuesday for the Jaguars.

"We had three back-to-back turnovers that cost us," Desert Pines coach DeShawn Henry said. "We relaxed with a 12-point lead, and we can't do that against Rancho."

Timpson said he and his teammates took notice when Desert Pines went on a run early in the second half. The Jaguars led 27-26 at halftime, but had a 9-2 run of their own to star the third quarter and began to coast.

"We all got to pick it up; we can't lose no more," Timpson said. "We knew coming into the game, we have to step up, after how we played (Monday)."

It was returning to a more comfortable style of basketball that got Rancho to a 13-3 start to the season that helped the Rams get back into Tuesday's game.

"Our focus is making forced turnovers, getting layups, the easy points," Timpson said.

After a long talk congratulating his team, Rams coach Melvin Shivers lamented the third-quarter bug that cost his team Monday and nearly burned the Rams again Tuesday.

"All season, third quarters seem to be our downfall. We never come out with any intensity," Shivers said. "Teams that pressure us give us the most problems, and lately we've been so-so with that."

In a very tight Northeast Division, with four playoff spots and five teams good enough to make it, so-so won't be good enough too often, a message Shivers is trying to get across to his team.

"Since we're in conference play, every game is important. I'm trying to explain that to the team, conference is what count," Shivers said. "D.P. is our rivalry, they beat us in football, they beat us in track, and it seemed like basketbal is our opportunity to shine, and we produced a victory tonight."