ORANGE COUNTY PREP BASKETBALL : Freeway League : Troy’s Win Streak Ends at Fullerton

Long before it was over, the crowd of 500 at Fullerton High School Friday night was on its feet, ready to celebrate the Indians’ victory over Troy.

A second before it was over, the crowd was on the court, already whooping it up when the buzzer sounded after Troy’s Mark Rudometkin hit a three-point shot that cut the lead to two.

The crowd--and the Indians--had to wait through two timeouts after an official ruled that one second remained, and then finally it was official: Fullerton had won, 57-55, tying Troy for the Freeway League lead.

Troy (5-1, 14-5) had not lost in the league in two seasons, winning the league with a 10-0 record last season and going undefeated the first time through the league this season.

Fullerton improved to 5-1 in the league and 9-6 overall.

If the crowd was wild in this one--and it was--the game was wilder: there were 11 three-point shots made.

Greg Wilber, a 6-foot 3-inch Fullerton guard, made the most of the league’s three-point rule, making four of five in the third quarter, pushing Fullerton to a 45-35 lead.

Troy cut the lead to seven when Rudometkin, who finished with 28, hit a three-pointer with a little more than five minutes to play, but then fell 10 behind when the Indians’ Alan Lewis completed a three-point play inside.

A Rudometkin steal and layup and two three-pointers by Brian Massey made the Fullerton lead just two with 2:24 remaining.

The crowd, which had been standing from pure excitement, stood now out of concern.

Troy’s Brad DeLoof made a nifty steal as he trailed a play and passed the ball out front to Rudometkin, whose layup gave Troy a one-point lead with 1:40 to play, its first lead since early in the game.

Then, with 1:19 remaining, the best possible thing happened for Fullerton, and the worst possible for Troy. Wilber, who finished with 25, got the ball just beyond the three-point line and made his fifth in six attempts, giving the Indians a 54-52 lead, and as it turned out, the ballgame.

“That stopped us dead in the water,” said Troy Coach Ed Graham.

Troy missed two three-point attempts and several other shots in the final minute, with Wilber scoring a layup off a Fullerton steal and Massey making one of two foul shots with 16 seconds remaining.

Rudometkin’s three-pointer with a second left, cut it to two, but Fullerton inbounded the ball to end the game.

La Habra 66, Buena Park 59--Nelson Bergamo scored 23 points and Alan Newman 17 as the Highlanders won their first league game. The game was tied 24-24, at the half but La Habra (1-6) outscored Buena Park, 42-33 in the second half. Eddie Perez scored 16 for La Habra.

Sunny Hills 55, Sonora 39--David Chisum and Mike McCloskey each scored 15 points as the Lancers (3-3, 11-8) won at Sonora. Geoff Crow led the Raiders (3-3, 7-10) with 18 points and Grayle Humphrey added 10.