Friday afternoon at Joe Lombard Gymnasium, the Raiders clashed with their biggest district rival over the last two seasons, fellow Canyon ISD school Canyon High in an early district matchup of unbeatens. It went like every district game has for Randall since last season.
No. 2 Randall took control early and didn’t let up, rolling to a 66-50 victory which showed the hallmarks of why the Raiders have been to the state tournament each of the last two years. When the game got close in the fourth quarter, found a way to hold off Canyon.
This being a Randall-Canyon contest, though, winning is never that simple. Canyon has been the one team which has stood in the way of the Raiders (12-5, 2-0 in district) reaching the state tournament each of the last two years, and Canyon coach Travis Schulte had to feel especially motivated after losing four straight games to Randall over the last two years.
“Ultimate respect to coach Schulte and what he does,” said Randall coach Trevor Johnson, in his first game as head coach in the rivalry. “This game is always going to be close no matter what. He had a great game plan against our guys and we really couldn’t put it away there in the second half. The pace of the game was more in their favor late in the third quarter and early in the fourth, but luckily we were able to get back in our running game and put them away.”
Canyon (7-8, 1-1) led briefly in the early minutes, carried by Jordan Webber’s eight points in the quarter. But Randall took the lead for good midway through the quarter as five players scored in the first eight minutes for an 18-10 lead.
The difference between the two teams was that Randall had the depth to get through the second half. When the Raiders ran into foul trouble, they were able to use their bench in the second half.
“Our depth is really good,” Johnson said. “We brought five guys off the bench in the third quarter and I think they won their minutes, so I was happy about that. We worked really hard in the summer and fall, and those other teams’ legs are going to give out if we keep on running. I really like our balance this year.”
The Eagles opened the quarter with an 11-2 run, concluding when Isaiah Dunham hit a 3-pointer (Canyon’s only 3 of the game) to cut it to 56-48 midway through the period.
But Combs and Dawson Heider were able to score easy transition baskets off fast breaks to get the lead back into double digits and allow the Raiders to cruise.
Combs had 18 points while Christian Smith had 13, Tim Perez 12 and Heider scored 11 for Randall. Webber had a game-high 20 for Canyon and Clayton Wilcox scored 18, but the duo combined for 76 percent of Canyon’s points.