Raucous Night of Basketball at Lassen College as Cougars Host Feather River in GVC Opener
Harsh feelings between Lassen College and Feather River College fans spilled onto the floor near the conclusion of the second game of the GVC hoops double-header between the rival schools, Wednesday night, (1/14) at the Lassen College Sports Complex.
In the night’s first game, the Lassen College Lady Cougars shook off a sluggish offensive start to pull away from Feather River for a 71-55 win. Lorena Torres hit a three pointer as time expired in the first half to give Lassen a 37-29 lead at the break. Australian stand-out Jessica Nolan poured in 14 of her game high 23 points in the second half to help the Lady Cougars pull away from Feather River and earn the 16 point victory. “We played pretty well defensively.” Said Lassen head coach Mark Naraeu, “We played hard and hustled all night.” Lassen’s Oceana Johnson, Julissa Reynoso and Savannah Carlo each scored 12 points as the Lady Cougars opened the conference schedule with a win.
In the night cap, the Golden Eagles of Feather River built a double digit lead in the first half and were able to with stand a late Lassen charge, holding off the Cougars for a 98-87 victory. Feather River freshman, Archie Kovich led the the Golden Eagle attack with 26 points. Feather River led by as many as 17 points in the second half, and by ten points with under two minutes to play but Lassen would not go away, pulling to within four points with 33 seconds to play. Feather River was able to hit their free throws in the waning seconds for the final margin of victory. Lassen’s Darius Stewart, who battled not only the Feather River defense, but Feather River head coach Randy Rick as well, led all scorers with 29 points. Stewart and Rick were seen jawing at one another in front of the Golden Eagle bench during the course of the game. The loss puts Lassen at 0-1 to start GVC play while Feather River is 1-0.
While the fans from both schools had been good naturedly going at it all night long from opposite sides of the court, things nearly got ugly as a Feather River fan crossed the court to confront the Lassen fan base. Order however was quickly restored by an alert member of the Lassen College Board and Lady Cougar head coach Mark Naraeu.
From this reporters standpoint, with the exception of the late game incident, it was a lively, raucous, mostly good spirited crowd from both schools. However, in the future, let us remember that we have fans of all ages in the stands.
To submit your stories and pictures, use our handy submission form.
Posted: January 15th, 2009 under FRC Men's Basketball, FRC Women's Basketball, Feather River College, LCC Men's Basketball, LCC Women's Basketball, Lassen College.
