Late in the fourth quarter, the Indians had whittled down the Rattlers’ lead to a single point.
But in front of a crowd of more than 1,100 there to cheer on the two high schools on Ramon Road, Rancho Mirage drilled three consecutive 3s with under four minutes to play to seal a 50-43 win in the CIF Southern Section 2A playoffs.
"Palm Springs makes it so hard to score and sometimes you just need a kid to make a shot," Rattlers head coach Rob Hanmer said. "The nice part about this team is that we're not relying on one kid. We've had multiple people makes shots when we've needed it."
On Friday, the Rancho Mirage High gym, nicknamed The Snake Pit, brought out several former players from both schools, cheerleaders, parents, and students brought an energy of a college basketball rivalry game.
This was the third meeting this season between the two teams. Rancho Mirage won the first meeting on Jan. 22, 52-48, and Palm Springs won the second meeting, 45-43, on Feb. 5.
"I couldn't sleep that night," Rattlers captain Marcus Gragg-Buchanan said of the Feb. 5 loss.
On Friday, Gragg-Buchanan and his teammates were able to remedy that loss. Palm Springs led throughout the first quarter, but Rancho Mirage (24-6) took the lead early in the second and led the rest of the way.
But after a brief moment of darkness when the lights briefly cut out, the Indians began to make their run. They went on a 10-3 run and brought the score to 35-34 with under five minutes remaining.
That would be the closest Palm Springs would come to taking the lead, as Gragg-Buchanan, a sophomore, hit the first of three 3s to push the lead back to four. Freshman Cash Gervin and senior Vincent Davis connected on the other two, and the home fans shot out of their seats with a roar after each one.
Palm Springs still had chances, and time, to get back into the game. But Rancho Mirage was clutch from the free throw line down the stretch, connecting on 8-of-11 free throws in the final quarter.
"This was all heart," Gragg-Buchanan said. "Last time when we played them we didn't play hard enough."
The Indians (21-9) ended their season having won a share of the Desert Empire League title and a first round playoff game.
The Rattlers, who also won a share of the DEL, are returning to the CIF-SS quarterfinals for the second consecutive year. But this time, Hanmer said, it means even more.
"Last year we were in 4A and everybody kind of made fun of us for being in the ... Click here to read full article
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