A year ago, RC B-League All-Stars Chris De Los Santos (OE), Keith Gordon (OI), Jason Rapp (OI) and Dan Shanoff (OA) gathered at half court after a shocking double-digit loss to the EC. They made a pact to return to the B-League All-Star Game and come out on the winning side, and last Tuesday, they made good on their promise – with an assist from a trio of new teammates.
Point guard and B-League Playoff MVP Ab Feliciano (Staff), Editor’s Note: Wait a minute, I thought this was EC vs. RC? Nice of you guys to stack the deck with ringers from the championship team…we’ll take the victory by forfeit! center and 2001 B-League Champ Jeff Crisan (OI), and power forward and B-League Newcomer of the Year Obi Isiadinso (OD) paced the short-handed EC to a 50-34 dismantling of the deep, versatile RC squad.
The EC displayed a playful attitude during warm-ups, but quickly were caught off-guard by the RC’s amoeba-zone defense. After a slow start, however, the vets turned on the jets and streaked out to a double-digit lead that they never relinquished.
With Feliciano pulling the strings, the EC offense kicked in behind just-below-the-rim play by Crisan and Isiadinso, who netted several early baskets to kick-start the squad. Off the bench, Shanoff nailed two 3-pointers, igniting a barrage of buckets.
“It was a classic team win,” Shanoff said. “We were igniting our offense with our defense, but when Jason [Rapp] got going in the second half, we really started clicking as a team.”
Rapp scored eight straight points after the intermission, capped by a backbreaking 3-pointer off a beautiful cross-court skip pass from De Los Santos. Meanwhile, section-mate Gordon drove to the basket on a mission, adding a new case study to the RC’s C&S syllabus.
“The RC played with heart, and hopefully they will take the same momentum from this game into next year that we did,” Shanoff said. “We will be rooting for them all the way.”
In A-League action, The RC All-Stars beat the EC 88-72.
