Chad Herron knows how good Ismael Uvay can be. He gets to see it every day in practice. He has just been waiting for the Pasco senior to show off in front of a full set of bleachers.
That time came Saturday night.
Uvay, averaging less than six points a game, came off the bench to score a season-high 20 and help carry the Bulldogs to a 75-71 CBBN Columbia Division road victory over Southridge.
"I hope that was a breakout game for him," Herron said.
Uvay, who has started most of the season, scored 10 of his team's 19 third-quarter points as the Bulldogs built a nine-point lead and then held off the Suns and Andrew Mendenhall in the final minutes.
"It's working right now," Uvay said of his spot on the bench.
Mendenhall did all he could to keep the Suns (6-9, 2-5) in the game. The senior scored 13 of his game-high 32 points in the fourth quarter, hitting jump shots from what seemed like a step inside the half-court line.
"He's had to take a lot of the load offensively for us," Southridge coach Jason DeVere said.
But as good as Mendenhall was late, he alone couldn't overcome some defensive lapses by the Suns.
Pasco (9-6, 6-2), which stayed in second place in the division, hit 8 of 11 shots in the final quarter and made just enough free throws in the closing minute.
Robert Montano matched Uvay with 20 points, and Andre Griffin and Jeramie Streicher each added nine points.
Streicher, who was plagued by foul trouble all night, scored all nine of his points in the final eight minutes.
"The chemistry of this team is starting to come together," said Herron, whose team had eight players score six or more points.
Southridge, which lost to Pasco 72-59 in an earlier meeting, shot 13-of-20 from the field in the first half to take a 33-31 lead.
Uvay and Montano got control for Pasco in the third quarter, using a 12-2 run to grab a 50-41 advantage.
That's when Mendenhall put the Suns on his shoulders.
The Southridge senior, who came in averaging 19.3 points per game, scored 17 of his team's final 30 points, including a run of eight straight that got the Suns within 63-59 with 3:36 left in the game.
"We tried to pull away, but he had other plans," Herron said.
Pasco finally got enough breathing room thanks to consecutive baskets by Streicher and a key shot from Montano with 1:31 left to push the lead to 72-64.
The Bulldogs then hit 3 of 6 free throws in the final minute.
"Pasco is very tough to defend and they have a lot of guys that can make shots," DeVere said.
Clayton Homme added 14 points and eight rebounds for the Suns.
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