HSU Basketball. Were you there? 1.5% of Humboldt County was.

Perry Price and I joined nearly 2,000 people in watching HSU Women's and Men's Basketball against UC San Diego. The new gym is really nice, but sure seemed to be on the commercialized side. Big corporate sponsorships, Season Ticket frills, canned entertainment and just ritzy glitz that was not present at the East Gym. Just a canned entertainment feel.

But what games we witnessed. UCSD wiped out an 8 point deficit with only 1:20 left on the clock! Not only did they hit a buzzer beater to tie up the game and send it into overtime, Freshman star Chelsea Carlisle hit a blind bank shot in overtime at the buzzer to win it! The huge crowd was shocked, but you could feel the momentum turn. HSU Point Guard Paige Peterson had a game she would like to forget. She had 3 cheapy fouls in the first half. The last was one of those of grade school level type. She threw a pass that was intercepted and followed the girl on a fast break and predictably fouled her while she made a lay up and then made the free throw. I could see she was going to foul the girl from the time the UCSD girl stole it. I am surprised Jodie Gleason did not scream for her to not foul. With Paige on the bench, the turnovers mounted continually. Katie Franci was a monster on the boards, but it was usually rebounding her own misses. She had trouble finishing. But she sure hustled all the way. Paige and Katie both fouled out. Brittney Taylor played a great game. Freshman Center/Forward Bree Halsey is a bright spot for the future.

HSU Men playing Hoopsters rules?

Perry and I were really surprised to see coach Tom Wood using a 5 man platoon at each 5 minute mark in the game they won. Seems to me the players would lose the flow and play erratic, inconsistent ball. That did not seem to be the case, as the second team seemed to energize the game as they were lead by 5-5" freshman spark plug David Broome. Zac Tiedeman is one of the most confident players I have seen for HSU, with game to back his brashness. He put the team on his back and led them to victory, even though he was having a tough shooting night. I was impressed. Overall it was a good experience, and I had a chance to catch up with many people I have not seen in awhile. After all, almost everyone I knew was there!