Photos by Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports,com – Action from Wednesday night’s playoff game at College of the Redwoods.

The College of the Redwoods men’s and women’s basketball teams both saw their seasons end a little earlier than hoped for on Wednesday night, as both teams lost their playoff openers.

The men’s team which was seeded No. 9 in the NorCal tournament, welcomed No. 24 Alameda to Eureka and fell 76-74, while the No. 20 CR women traveled to play No. 13 Santa Rosa and lost 54-46.

Playing in front of a large home crowd and a great atmosphere, the CR men battled back and forth with an Alameda team that was coached bu NBA legend Gary Payton.

The second half featured several lead changes and went right down to the wire, but neither team could score in the final 1:44 and the visitors held on late for the narrow victory.

The Corsairs trailed by eight (70-62) with a little under five minutes remaining, but went on a 12-6 run to pull within two.

Both teams had multiple chances to score down the stretch.

The visitors missed the front end of three consecutive one-and-ones in the final 48 seconds, but each time they did the Corsairs were unable to take advantage at the other end of the floor.

“Since the bracket was released on Sunday, I was on high alert because of how jagged a matchup this was going to be for us, and it proved to be the case tonight,” CR head coach Ryan Bisio said. “Alameda deserves to advance. They beat us fair and square in every way, especially tonally.”

The large home crowd did not deter the visitors form their ambitions, and if anything it seemed to spur them on.

“Alameda was so physically tough, focused and had unshakeable confidence,” Bisio said. “They came into a hostile environment and dictated the terms of engagement. 

“As heartbreaking as it is to admit, their coaches had their players in a more competitive mind space than we were, and I take full responsibility for that.”

Brandon Lucas led the Corsairs offensively and finished with a team-high 22 points, while Ty Dahlin had another good all-around game and added 20 points.

Golden Valley Conference MVP Mason Mottashed also had 13 points in the loss.

“I’m proud of our guys’ commitment to standing toe-to-toe with them for 40 minutes,” Bisio said. “We simply just couldn’t endure the pulverizing body blows Alameda was delivering all night.”

The loss ends what was a memorable season for the Corsairs and another hugely successful one.

The Redwoods men closed out 21-8 and took home a fourth conference championship in five seasons.

And that’s a remarkable achievement for a program that has won just eight conference titles all time.

“I’m confident when our players reflect on the season they’ve had, they will be proud of what we’ve accomplished,” the head coach said. “The most impressive thing we’ve done this year is become so incredible close as a common people, a true family. And as a family we will be there for each other as we process such a devastating reality.”

Bisio and his players also appreciated the huge support they have enjoyed all season, especially for the playoff game.

“We want to thank our community for coming out and supporting us tonight,” Bisio said. “We’re really sorry we couldn’t produce the outcome we wanted, but the support meant a lot to us and reflects our community in such a positive way.”

No stats were immediately available for the CR women’s game.