The local basketball season officially tipped off on Saturday, and it was a good start to a new era for the College of the Redwoods men.

This past offseason saw legendary CR coach Ryan Bisio step down as he becomes the school’s new interim AD, and his longtime assistant coach, Justin Claus, take over the program.

And Claus and his players got the new season off to a successful start in exiting fashion, winning 106-102 in overtime against Los Medanos at the Live Like Geno Tip off in Napa.

“I’m really proud of how tough our guys were,” Claus said. “It was a gutsy, exhausting performance. Our group showed a lot of resilience and kept finding ways to make plays when it mattered most.”

Former McKinleyville Panther Cody Whitmer and former Fortuna Husky Alfonso Medina both got the season off to an impressive start with a team-high 28 points each.

Nate Sweet added 18 points in the win, and Marcos Rosales chipped in 11 points.

A fast-paced game was tightly contested from start to finish and there was little to separate the two sides for much of the night, with the score tied 55-55 at halftime 

Redwoods made some key plays down the stretch, including some clutch free throws by Luka Radovanovic, Medina, Whitmer and Sweet.

Medina threw down an inspirational late dunk, Sweet had an important block and Radovanovic converted a tough finish to tie the game late and force overtime.

Los Medanos presented a formidable early challenge for the new head coach and his players.

“Los Medanos had two shooters who hit some incredibly tough 3s to give them the lead multiple times,” Claus said. “It was an incredible game to be part of, and we’re proud to come away with a win.”