Ridgefield beats Fort Vancouver as high school basketball returns

The Ridgefield Spudders got an opening night victory in their coach’s first game with some clutch free throws from a player who had to work on his weakness in order to be successful.

Yeah, the Spudders surely are enjoying the start of basketball.

Meanwhile, Fort Vancouver might have ended up on the wrong side of the scoreboard, but the Trappers gave their fans some excitement. How about a 3-pointer at the buzzer to force overtime?

In the end, Ridgefield got the 63-60 win in OT, but really, basketball won Tuesday night at Fort Vancouver High School.

Hoops is here.

There were a couple games on the schedule Monday night, then a few more on Tuesday. By the end of the week, just about every team, boys and girls, will have played their first games of the season.

A quick recap: Evergreen, Camas, and Hockinson won league titles in boys basketball last season. Skyview, Prairie, Woodland, and La Center earned the girls titles in Southwest Washington.

This season, the Prairie girls are penciled in at No. 1 in the state by the Seattle Times in its preseason Class 3A rankings. The Skyview girls are No. 7 in 4A.

In the boys, Union is No. 5 and Evergreen at No. 9 to start the campaign.

No rankings were needed Tuesday at Fort.

It was just time to play basketball. Time for Alex Olson to see if his work was worth it.

It was.

Olson, a 6-4 post for the Spudders, sank two free throws with 18 seconds left to give the Spudders the lead for good at 61-60. Earlier in the overtime, he made two free throws to cut Fort Vancouver’s advantage to two points.

“That’s the first time I’ve ever done that,” Olson said. “Last season, I was about a 40 percent (free throw) shooter. This summer, I just cracked them.”

Sam Landerholm scored 22 points, including a big 3-pointer in OT, to lead the Spudders. He also had the first dunk of the season for the Spudders. Michael Potter added 16 points, and Max Ballantyne had 13.

The Trappers showed plenty of fight, too.

Mario Eyler, who led the Trappers with 19 points, swished a 3-pointer at the buzzer to tie the game at 52. A couple minutes earlier, he got a steal then pulled up on the fast break for a 3-pointer to make it a 49-49 contest.

Jordan Howard added 13 points, and Matthew Delisle had 10 points for Fort.

Prior to the game, both coaches enjoyed a moment to think about the upcoming season.

“It’s Christmas morning,” first-year head coach Nick Veys of Ridgefield said. “It’s awesome. I love basketball.”

By the end of the night, he was 1-0 in his coaching career.

“For us, the first game of the year means the Ridgefield Spuddders,” said Fort Vancouver coach Scott Thompson, entering his eighth season with the Trappers.

Turning to Veys, Thompson said, “I think we’ve tipped off against you guys every single year I’ve been here. And you guys keep getting bigger, too.”

Fort Vancouver also is trying make sure the fans feel like the game is an event.

Using a projector to shine video images on the back wall, the school proudly displayed former Fort Vancouver football standout and now professional singer Patrick Lauder. He hit every note perfectly in the national anthem. (Lauder sings for the Phoenix Coyotes and at other major sporting events in Arizona.)

When the Trappers were introduced, the lights went out, and the video screen showcased the Fort logo, with fire in the background. Then images of the starters flashed on the screen. Spotlights then caught the players on their way to the court.

The message: It’s Trapper time.

Or, the message for all of us, it’s time for basketball.

RIDGEFIELD 63, FORT VANCOUVER 60, OT

RIDGEFIELD — Sam Landerholm 22, Michael Potter 16, Max Ballantyne 13, Michael Schwinoff 7, Alex Olson 4, David Potter 1, Brady Williams 0, Kelly Hope 0, Kyle Morris 0. Totals 18-47 (3-11) 24-33 63.

FORT VANCOUVER — Mario Eyler 19, Jordan Howard 13, Matthew Delisle 10, Sean Lennon 9, Quinton Whitfield 7. Deonte Hawkins 2, K-Last Caruo 0, Jacob Howard 0, Isaiah Miller 0. Totals 21-54 (8-28) 10-25 60.

Ridgefield 10 11 16 15 11–63

Fort Vancouver 7 18 13 14 8–60