NEWARK, CA — Mason Forbes hadn’t made a basket since early in the first half.
So it only seemed fitting that the Folsom High sophomore came to the free throw line not having shot a free throw all game with the contest tied and only 6.4 seconds left with the chance to win the game.
Forbes not only hit one but both free throws and Folsom’s defense didn’t allow Modesto Christian a clear look at the basket as the Bulldogs defeated the Crusaders 53-51 Saturday in both team’s season-opener at the 9th annual Prep2Prep Tip-off Classic at Newark Memorial High.
“I was thinking I can’t miss these free throws,” Forbes said. “If I miss both it goes to overtime and game’s on me. So I just took a deep breath and followed through and got the win.
“It’s a huge win for us to start the season off against a great team (in) Modesto Christian.”
Modesto Christian came into the game touted as possibly the No. 1 team in Northern California after making it all the way to the CIF-State NorCal Open Division title game last season. The Crusaders fell to eventual champion Bishop O’Dowd.
Modesto Christian returned 12 players from its 2014-2015 roster, including three starters.
Folsom, which made it the NorCal Open Division semifinals before also falling to O’Dowd made a statement that maybe it should be considered top dog in NorCal (along with certainly Moreau Catholic after its impressive win against Sierra Canyon-Chatsworth).
Bulldogs senior point guard Jordan Ford, a St. Mary’s College signee, earned MVP of the game honors, scoring a game-high 23 points while adding nine rebounds, four steals and three assists.
“It’s saying that we are not going to back down from anything,” Ford said. “We are going to make a state run like always.”
After scoring only one point in the first quarter and finishing with nine in the first half, Ford showed why he is a Division I player in front of a near-capacity crowd including his future college coach at St. Mary’s, Randy Bennett.
Ford scored 13 of his team’s 15 third-quarter points and did so with a bevy of drives to the basket over the big men of Modesto Christian. He made steals and finished in transition and even hit a 3-pointer before the horn sounded to give the Bulldogs a 44-40 lead going into the fourth quarter.
“I was focused," Ford said. "I knew my team needed a boost. That’s what I had to do because my team relies on me to score the ball and that’s what I provided.”
Folsom (1-0) was trailing most of the first half and even found itself down as many as 10 at 20-10 but slowly the Bulldogs got back into it.
Modesto Christian led Folsom 31-29 going into halftime, but the lead was precarious.
“Our team is battle tested,” Ford said. “We have a lot of experienced guys and seniors so we’re ready for anything.”
Tre Finch and Wall both scored 13 for Folson, with Finch also adding five steals.
Ford, Finch and Wall accounted for 49 of the team’s 53 points.
“Defensively we just seemed to be really lackadaisical and I think the second half we got a little more sticky,” Folsom coach Mike Wall said. “We made their shots more difficult and were able to get some offense going. First games are always tough. We just have to be really patient this time of the year, especially on offense.”
Modesto Christian (0-1) led by as many as four points in the fourth quarter, 51-47, with 2:24 to go in the game when Wall was fouled attempting a 3-point shot.
Wall hit all three and the Bulldogs tied the game 51-51 with 54.8 seconds left when Finch made one of two free throw attempts.
Jordan Hollins-Buckner led the Crusaders with 11 points and five rebounds, Jay Chen added nine points, Robinson Idehen and Christian Ellis each had eight points, while Idehen adding a game-high 12 rebounds.
