| 08 December 2009
One shot.
One basket.
One instant hero.
Ryan Skurdal entered his name into Rocky Mountain High School basketball lore on Dec. 5 when he swished a 10-foot jumper as time expired, lifting the Grizzlies to a 50-48 victory over Capital in the Rocky Mountain gym. The Grizzlies, 2-19 during their inaugural season a year ago, suddenly found themselves at the top of the 5A Southern Idaho Conference standings with a 2-0 record. They moved to 3-0 overall heading into a Dec. 11 showdown with rival Eagle at Rocky Mountain.
Skurdal, a 5-foot-8 junior guard, drove into the key after taking a dribble hand-off from a teammate and calmly drained the first game-winning shot of his career. “I looked up at the clock when I got the ball and saw there was only three seconds left,” Skurdal recalled. “I was going to take it to the basket and maybe draw a foul, but I found a nice opening and just shot it. “It felt really nice when it came off my hand,” he added. “What a fantastic feeling. Making a shot like that, I don’t even know how to explain it.” Skurdal was quickly dog-piled by Rocky Mountain players; the coaches jumped out of their chairs and joined them.
In the locker room afterward, Grizzly freshman coach Reggie Allen jokingly told head coach Todd Morrison, “Coach, I bet you haven’t jumped that high since (you played in) college!” Senior guard Stetson Pace logged a strong floor game for the Grizzlies and led them in scoring with 12 points. He added four steals. Junior forward Levi Altringer came off the bench to contribute 11 points, going 5-for-5 at the free-throw line, and senior post Ryan Strand added seven points and a game-high 11 rebounds. Senior forward Josh Hasquet, who had poured in 45 points and 13 3-point baskets during Rocky Mountain’s first two games, had an off-night but still managed to sink two more 3’s and contribute eight points.
Capital, fueled by its quick guards, led by six points late in the first half, but a rare five-point play inched the Grizzlies within 22-21 at the intermission. The rapid turnaround occurred when Pace netted a 3-pointer from the baseline just as Altringer was fouled away from the ball. The latter went to the line and hit both ends of a one-and-one to complete the five-point spree. Altringer made another huge contribution late in the fourth quarter when he muscled in a shot underneath, drew a foul, and completed a three-point play.
One night earlier, the Grizzlies had a much easier time en route to a 65-30 victory over Caldwell. The sharp-shooting Hasquet burned the visitors from Canyon County with 23 points, sinking 6 of 8 treys along the way.