Faith Baptist Upsets Ribet Christian

Faith Baptist High knew not to claim victory when it opened a 10-point lead over favored Ribet Christian Thursday night in the Division V semifinals of the boys’ Southern California regional basketball tournament.

The Contenders had broken a third-quarter tie with a 10-0 run and appeared to have all the momentum with 2 minutes 40 seconds left in the period.

Then Faith Baptist saw four of its starters drift into foul trouble, and the Contenders had to fight for their playoff lives before scoring a 61-57 upset at La Canada High.

When Faith Baptist junior forward Fernando Garcia fouled out with two minutes to play, Ribet Christian, the division’s top-seeded team, stepped up its running offense. The Contenders led, 56-53, when Garcia fouled out and the momentum had changed.

“We were definitely nervous,” said Faith Baptist center Peter Rasmussen, who had a team-high 18 points. “We didn’t want to give them anything, but we couldn’t afford to have anyone else foul out.”

Rasmussen and starting guards Alex Estrada (17 points) and Darren Wyre (eight) and forward Robert Reed (six) each played with four fouls through most of the fourth period.

Rasmussen made a layup with 1:20 left to put the Contenders ahead, 58-53. The teams traded trips to the free-throw line from there, and Ribet Christian trimmed the lead to 59-57 when Andre English made two free throws with 12 seconds left.

Wyre put the game away when he connected on both ends of a one-on-one with two seconds to play.

Faith Baptist (21-10), the Southern Section Division I champion, will play El Cajon Christian at 4:30 p.m. Saturday in the regional final at Cal State Dominguez Hills.

Jason Sanders led Ribet Christian (26-3), the Southern Section Small Schools champion, with 21 points and Jamal Duncan added 19.