El Modena Beats Norco at Buzzer

Ryan Rycraw hit a 15-foot off-balance jumper with one second left to give El Modena High School a 50-48 victory over Norco in the 4-A wild-card playoff game Wednesday night at Norco High.

The Vanguards (13-10) advance to Friday’s first round at Corona del Mar. The Cougars, the No. 3 team from the Ivy League, ended 14-11.

With 2:39 left, Norco took a 48-46 lead, its first since since early in the third quarter when forward Rubio Medina made two free throws.

But Rycraw scored on a baseline jumper to tie it again.

After a Norco timeout, the Cougars missed two successive shots, and when the Vanguards got the rebound they stalled. With 23 seconds left, El Modena called a timeout to set up a last shot.

With nine seconds left, Vanguard guard Corey Ahart passed to Rycraw, who drove and made the desperation jump shot over two defenders.

Rycraw ended with 16 points, second to teammate Jason Hamlin’s game-high 18. Forward Darren DeFeo added 10 points for the Vanguards.

With 6:38 left in the first half, Norco led, 14-12, when Rycraw went to the bench with three fouls. In the next four minutes, the Cougars outscored the Vanguards, 10-2, to take a 24-14 lead. El Modena, however, then capitalized on a series of Norco turnovers to cut the lead to 26-22 by halftime.