BBK: Ridenour leads Royals into Alhambra tourney title game

Bryce Ridenour scored 34 points to help San Marcos advance to the championship game of the Alhambra Tournament.

Bryce Ridenour scored 34 points to help San Marcos advance to the championship game of the Alhambra Tournament.

Before he filling himself with Thanksgiving goodies, Bryce Ridenour filled up the rim with 34 points to help rally the San Marcos boys basketball team to a 77-72 victory over Yeshiva University of Los Angeles in the its final pool play game at the Alhambra Tournament on Wednesday.

The victory sends the Royals into a championship showdown with perennial L.A. City Section power Crenshaw on Friday at 1:30 p.m.

Ridenour did more than just score points. He grabbed six rebounds had four steals and two blocked shots, and he made two key defensive plays down the stretch, as San Marcos rallied from an 8-point deficit in the fourth quarter.

The Royals, who trailed by 15 in the first half, wore down YULA with full-court pressure and tied the game for the first time with 2:20 left. But YULA responded with five straight points and led 72-67 with 1:30 to go in the game.

San Marcos, however, dug deep and scored the next 10 points to pull out the dramatic win.

?I was not happy with the way we played for most of the game today, but I was pleased that the team stuck with it and willed a win out of a game that could have easily gone the other way,? San Marcos coach Dave Odell said.?Bryce Ridenour was amazing tonight. He was everywhere on the defensive end and rebounding and also made every big offensive play; he?s become quite a player?.

The Royals got a big lift from Kele Mkpado, who scored 10 points off the bench. Point guard Christian Widmer played a solid game and scored 12 points.