Rocklin advances to second round of NorCal tourney

Even when the guy hit a 30-footer – off the glass, no less – there was a sense of calm on the Rocklin High School bench.

Richard Branning's bomb cut this Northern California Division II Regional quarterfinal game to a white-knuckle two-point contest with 20 seconds to play, but it didn't cut a bit into the Thunder's collective will.

Jackson Cummings and Brendan Lane coolly combined for three free throws down the stretch, and second-seeded and host Rocklin exhaled with the 65-60 victory over No. 7 Menlo-Atherton on Tuesday night.

"You look at a shot like that, and for a second you think, OK, this might not be the night," Thunder coach Steve Taylor said. "You see weird things like that and wonder."

Rocklin (30-2) advanced to a second-round game Thursday against Fairfield in a rematch of Saturday's section title game, in which Rocklin prevailed 44-43.

The Thunder was in for a challenge from the outset against Menlo-Atherton (21-11), a scrappy bunch coached by a former Marine in Phil White. He's a San Jose police officer who demands discipline and shooting, and he got plenty of it Tuesday. Rocklin's spirited rooting section didn't really rev up until it became more of a game in the second half.

Branning had 13 of his 18 in the first half. He made the long three late, but he mostly had to work for everything against Chris Garrison, whose long frame and wing span made any shooting difficult. Lane, the Thunder's 6-foot-10 national recruit, played to his reputation down the stretch. He had seven points at halftime and finished with 21.

Cummings, the emerging point guard, had 15, and steady role players Pat Stover, Joel Day, Derek Faulkner, Jason Hampton and Garrison did their bit to inch the Thunder closer to its first NorCal championship.

Rocklin trailed 38-33 at halftime, then wore out the Bears of the North Coast Section, allowing just 22 second-half points.

Fairfield 75, Las Lomas 55 – James Lake had 24 points to lead the Falcons (27-5) to their first-ever NorCal boys basketball victory and a school record for wins in a season in beating the third-seeded Knights (18-12) in Walnut Creek.

Newark Memorial 62, Folsom 48 – The season ended for the fourth-seeded Bulldogs (24-8) against the visiting Cougars (26-6) in the Division I opener for both teams.

About the writer:

• Call The Bee's Joe Davidson, (916) 321-1280. The Bee's Bill Paterson contributed to this report.