Colusa Effort Stops Clark and Christian

Prolific scorer Tony Clark had a below average point total and that added up to defeat in Christian’s 62-48 loss to Colusa Friday in the State Division V boys basketball championship game in the Oakland Coliseum Arena.

Clark, averaging 44 points a game, was limited to 27 and made only 9 of 33 shots. Clark also failed to make a three-point shot, missing all five of his attempts.

“I had my shots, I just wasn’t hitting,” Clark said. “As the game went along, I started forcing up shots that I shouldn’t take and that had an impact on the team.”

Much of the credit for Clark’s off night should go to Colusa’s Mario Reveles. Reveles, a 6-foot-2 forward--six inches shorter than Clark--more than made up for the size disadvantage with his quickness and physical play.

Clark struggled in the first half, making only two of 13 shots with Reveles hounding his every move. He got untracked in the third quarter, scoring 13 points, but Reveles was on the bench for most of the period.

Afterward, Reveles said the physical style that the referees allowed played a big role in containing Clark.

“The refs let us play and I got away with a lot of things,” Reveles said. “I made him work for every shot. I had to if we wanted to win. I don’t think he was used to someone as small and quick as me guarding him.”

Despite Clark’s off night, Christian (19-12) held a two-point lead, 41-39, with 5:42 remaining to play after center Dwaine Lee made a free throw. But at this point, Colusa’s leading scorer, Jayson Vossler, came alive.

Vossler had only six points going into the fourth quarter but he hit a three-point shot, scored on a baseline jumper and then made two free throws to push Colusa ahead, 48-41. Vossler had missed 12 consecutive three-point shots and was was 2 of 20 from the field when he went on a tear.

“I thought before the game that if we could shut down Vossler, we had a good chance of winning,” said Randy Wright, Christian coach. “It was the way that Vossler scored those points right off the bat that really got them going.”

Colusa (27-2) outscored the Patriots, 23-7, down the stretch. Wright said fatigue was a factor.

“We had a five-minute lapse where we turned the ball over several times in the backcourt,” Wright said. “We were tired at that point. I thought Tony took a beating in there.

“It was the most physical game we’ve played this year. Tony had a tremendous year and he’s going to have a great college career ahead of him.”

Clark finished the season with 1,339 points. The state record was set last season when Glendora’s Tracy Murray scored 1,506 points.