It was a tall task – but one they were up to.

Escalon’s varsity basketball boys went on the road for their first-round playoff game on Wednesday, Feb. 18, the number 12 seed in the Division 4 Sac-Joaquin Section playoffs, and took down the number five seed, West Campus of Sacramento.

It was a thrilling buzzer beater three-point shot from senior Ben Ferreira that capped off the road victory.

“West Campus has really good guard play, with two very experienced players that have both played four years of varsity ball. One has scored 1500 career points, while the other has surpassed 2000 points. Our defensive gameplan was geared towards containing those two players and forcing their other players to beat us,” explained Escalon head coach Nate Bartelink. “Our defense did a great job keeping those two players a combined twenty points below their season averages. Unfortunately for us, another one of their players carried them offensively.”

Escalon was down 14-10 after one but surged ahead to lead it 31-27 at the half.

“Our lead extended to ten in the third quarter, but as expected, they made a run in the third quarter, but we still held a five-point lead heading into the fourth quarter,” Bartelink said. “I told the players in the huddle between the third and fourth quarters that if we were told before the game that we’d have a five-point lead after three quarters, we’d sign up for it. West Campus increased their pressure in the fourth quarter and actually took the lead midway through. We trailed by four points with two minutes left and made all the necessary plays down the stretch, scoring the last seven points of the game.”

The coach said his team was able to execute a couple of sets coming out of timeouts “to perfection” and the visiting Cougars tied the game with under a minute to play, getting the defensive stops they needed against West Campus.

“We called a timeout with thirty seconds left, and held for the last shot. Ben Ferreira ended up with the ball on the right wing and he drilled a three-pointer just before the buzzer sounded, giving us the huge road playoff victory,” Bartelink said. “Given the stage and circumstance, that shot by Ben is the biggest shot an Escalon player has made in the last twenty years. With all that he’s been through with his serious injuries the last few years, for him to be able to have that moment, I couldn’t have been any happier for him.”

Ferreira, playing aggressively throughout the night, paced the winning effort with 23 points in what his coach termed “one of the best games” of his high school career.

“That was a huge win for our program; the biggest one in a long, long time. Prior to this win, the last road playoff win our program had was twelve years ago,” noted Bartelink. “I was proud of the entire team for how they performed under pressure, overcoming some adversity in the second half, and finding a way to get it done.”

Senior Logan Huebner put in one of his classic all-around performances, Bartelink said, with 12 points, nine rebounds, eight assists, four steals, and three blocks. Jake Ferreira added 12 points while Conner Jones had 11 points and eight rebounds.

The reward for that first round win was a quarterfinal match on Friday, Feb. 20, when the Cougars had to travel to play at number four seed Colfax.

This time, the host team had the upper hand, using a big fourth quarter to send Escalon to a 62-50 loss, knocking them out of the playoffs.

Down 15-14 after one, the Cougars trailed 31-27 at the half but put together a strong effort in the third to take the lead, 45-42 after three quarters. Colfax, though, turned it up a notch and Escalon was forced to foul late, outscored by the host team 20-5 over the final eight minutes to end their season.

It was Ben Ferreira once again leading the way, putting in 19 points on the night, while Logan Huebner added 14 points, five rebounds and five steals.

“He continued to play through a broken hand sustained during football season; re-aggravated late in the basketball season,” Bartelink pointed out of Huebner. “Never said a word. Never asked to sit out. He’s been an iron man for us.”

Jake Ferreira put in 11 points and dished out six assists in the finale.

“Donovan Martinez (senior) had some big minutes for us, playing the entire second half, scoring four points, and providing some defensive activity, even though he wasn’t 100 percent, being sick the last few days,” Bartelink added.

Colfax was where Escalon’s season came to an end last year as well, another playoff loss there. Bartelink said his team was hoping to avenge that loss but they just didn’t have quite enough.

“Colfax reloaded with a really strong sophomore class that presented a bunch of challenges. Our boys were prepared and ready to go. Throughout the game we had our runs, they had theirs. We played good basketball for the majority of the game,” Bartelink said. “We held a ten-point lead at one point during the third quarter. Give Colfax credit. They were the better team in the last four minutes of the game. The final score definitely is no indication of truly how close this game was. We were possibly a defensive stop and a score away from winning that game.”

Escalon, in fact, trailed just 51-50 with 1:09 left in the game and an unexpected Colfax player made a late-shot clock three-pointer, extending their lead to 54-50 with just over a minute to go.

“We called a timeout, Colfax stopped our offensive set, but we still had a chance at a loose ball near our own hoop, which may have resulted in a basket, but unfortunately we couldn’t secure the ball,” explained Bartelink. “We had to then play the foul game and Colfax went 8-for-8 shooting free-throws in the last minute, extending their lead to the final margin.”

Earning a spot in the semifinals with a win over Colfax would also have given Escalon a state playoff bid, said the coach, something EHS hasn’t had since 2005.

“I was extremely proud of the boys for doing everything they could to put ourselves in that position. Sometimes things in sports and life don’t work out like you want or hope. I believe this group exceeded a lot of people’s expectations,” Bartelink summarized. “We dealt with some adversity and persevered; losing some impact players in the off-season, and overcame some injuries along the way. I couldn’t be any prouder of a team for maximizing their collective ability and achieving what they did. They were playing their best basketball at the end of the season. That’s all you can ask for. The finality of a season ending is always tough, but when the dust settles, we have a lot to be proud of. We’ll definitely miss our five special seniors. It’s been my privilege to be their coach.”

Ben Ferreira, Logan Huebner, Donovan Martinez, Aydun Melo and Issac Petalio closed out their Cougar basketball careers with the playoff loss to Colfax

Final overall record for the varsity boys was 18-12 and they were 8-4 in Trans-Valley League play. They also finished as the last TVL team standing in the playoffs.

Editor Marg Jackson contributed to this report.