Submitted photo – The Redwood Elementary players and cheerleaders celebrate their big weekend at the Jaycees tournament.

Last weekend was a big one for the Redwood Elementary boys basketball team, as the Raiders ended a long championship drought at the Crescent City Jaycees Tournament.

And they did so in dramatic fashion, nailing two free throws in the final second of the game to secure the victory. 

The AA championship is the first for the school since 1974.

And that’s not all for the Crescent City school.

The Raiders also took home the tournament sportsmanship award out of 56 schools across all divisions, as well the Most Outstanding Cheerleader Team award.

After defeating Sequoia Middle School 67-33 in their opening game, the young Redwood players got the better of Baechtel Grove Middle School out of Willits 47-27 to advance to the championship game.

The deciding showdown against crosstown rivals Crescent Elk Middle School went right down to the final second.

The Redwood boys trailed by two (49-47) with 18 seconds remaining before Ryder Powelson scored a basket to tie the game.

Crescent Elk then re-took the lead with a clutch free throw, but Redwood seventh grader Elijah Brunson grabbed the rebound after the final attempt and launched a three-quarter-court shot, getting fouled on the attempt to send him to the free throw line with .1 seconds remaining on the clock.

Brunson was ice cool as he went to the charity stripe and nailed the first two of his three attempts to seal a thrilling 51-50 come-from-behind win.

“It was crazy,” Redwood head coach Tressen Smith said. “All the kids kept their cool.”

Bruson was named to the all-tournament team, along with teammate and fellow seventh grader Asher Fry, who also played a pivotal role on the way to the championship.

Submitted photo

Powelson also had an outstanding tournament and was named tourney MVP for the champs, while teammate Kellen Rice saved his best for last and “had the best game of his career” in the final, according to Smith.

Rice scored a team-high 14 points in the championship showdown.

The roster of eight players included three seventh graders.

Mason Avila, Sora Kim, Alex Gonzalez and seventh grader Ernesto Gamez rounded out the team and each of them also played a pivotal role on the way to the championship, according to the coach.

“They just played hard and played as a team,” Smith said of his players. “We finally started bonding as a team. Everybody contributed. Everybody scored.”

Asked what he liked most about this year’s team, Smith responded “Just their fight to get better. They strive to get better.”

The Raiders finished the season 20-6.

Stephen Daniels was an assistant coach on the team.