High-flying farewell

Ty Nichols went 360. Donnie Triphan went off the backboard. Zach Nelson went for big air and Isaiah Bohmann opted for slamming with authority.

All over River Valley High's gym, players were throwing down highlight-worthy dunks — and this was just in warmups.

What a foreshadow it was.

Seventeen seniors were given one last go around in high school uniforms — a final chance to dress in Yuba City brown, River Valley green, Sutter and Gridley blue, Marysville orange, Lindhurst red.

Wednesday they made the most of every last minute in those jerseys. It was billed as the inaugural Northern California All-Star Basketball game and the "away" team won 100-81.

Ask any of the fans to remember that score in a couple weeks. It's minutiae, along with the "home" team's porous shooting percentage from 3-point range or the fact this contest was over by halftime.

What they'll be talking about is the Honkers' Jessa Chima nailing a spinning dunk or Nelson's three slams in 30 seconds or back-to-back blocks on Sutter's Bohmann. Or how Gridley's Nichols confidently drained an extremely long 3-pointer or the way River Valley's Gabriel Finley drove right at anybody in his way and finished with 23 points.

That's what the players will remember, too. Think the "home" team — made up of Yuba City, River Valley and Lindhurst players — was flustered after the loss?

Hardly. These players hadn't practiced in weeks. There were no timeouts called by the coaches and neither team came close to reaching the bonus for fouls. The waning minutes of the second half were essentially "H-O-R-S-E" with substitutions.

"It was all about having fun tonight," Nelson said.

Then there were the non-locals, who comprised the "away" team along with players from Sutter, Gridley and Marysville.

Entering the night, the matchup to watch was Nelson vs. Bohmann — a battle of the area's prolific, 6-foot-7 big men. The result — Nelson 20 points, Bohmann 8 and a legion of parents who now have the duo's picture on their cameras after making them pose together after the game.

That quickly took a backseat to the play of Pioneer's James Tillman, who went off for 20 first-half points en route to a game high 27 full of dunks and downtown shots that earned him the MVP award.

In the end, it was just another fitting goodbye to a standout player.

Some players will go on, like Nelson, who has D-I programs knocking. Others will still play — though it will be in pick-up games.

"It feels so weird," said Nichols, who is even better at baseball and will play for Sacramento State next year. "I'll never play (basketball) in front of a crowd again."