Notice Gilbert boys basketball pulling off upsets lately? Alex Ruba is a big reason why
GILBERT — Whether it is taking big guys off the dribble, finding an open teammate, crashing the boards or hitting a 15-footer in the lane, junior forward Alex Ruba has found a way to make a difference for the Gilbert boys basketball team in 2021-2022.
Ruba played a huge role in Gilbert's thrilling 55-53 victory over nonconference rival Nevada Monday at Gilbert. He also made valuable contributions in a 63-52 victory over Webster City Saturday in Gilbert that snapped an eight-game Tiger losing streak.
Both those wins were big upsets, with Nevada at 10-5 this year and Webster City at 7-6.
With a player hitting his stride like Ruba is, more upsets could be on the way.
“Alex has been incredible,” Gilbert senior forward Justin Terry said. “He has great length and he gets up and down the court so fast. He’s always the first one down the court and I just love playing with him.”
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Ruba only had five points in Saturday's win over Webster City. But he dished out four assists and pulled down four rebounds to help the Tigers (4-10) get over the hump for the first time since Dec. 10.
“Those little things that he does are so contagious,” Terrones said. “It keeps the other players involved and is the right play and right situation, which allows for us to be successful and we look forward to more of that.”
Ruba said he entered the season expecting to be more of a scorer. He's averaging 6.8 points per game.
But as the season as gone on, Ruba's found he's more effective focusing on defense, rebounding and passing.
"As the season went on I thought, 'Why don’t I get my teammates open?'” Ruba said. “If I become more of a threat, I can get guys like Birk (Hanson) open more.”
Ruba's also averaging 5.4 rebounds, 1.4 assists and 1.3 steals per game.
At 6-foot-4 Ruba fills in the power forward spot for the Tigers. He doesn't have a lot of bulk, but he is excellent off the dribble with tremendous quickness and good vision to spot an open teammate.
That combined with a nice mid-range shooting touch has made Ruba a stretch-4 player that causes opposing teams a lot of match-up problems.
“We really enjoy seeing Alex out there playing that position,” Terrones said. “Being able to play a stretch-4 with his ball-handling skills, he is able to create opportunities for his teammates. He is tough to guard because of his size and because of his ball-handling ability.”
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His skills were clearly on display against Nevada.
A Justin Terry steal with 2.2 seconds left sealed Gilbert's win over the Cubs. But despite a back-and-forth, nail-biting final few minutes of play, Gibert was in control most of the game and Ruba played a huge role in that.
He scored 10 points had four steals in the first half to help Gilbert take a 31-25 lead at the break.
“He’s a big part of our game," said Hanson, who finished with a game-high 20 points. "Today he stepped up.”
Nevada moved in front 53-52 late in the fourth quarter when Ruba drove through the lane and unselfishly hit Terry with a great bounce pass as he was cutting to the basket. Terry scored on the play with 1:11 left and that turned out to be the winning basket.
“He has a great attitude,” Terry said. “The best attitude I’ve ever been around.”
Ruba's nine rebounds were huge for an undersized Gilbert team going up against an athletic Nevada team with 6-7 center Carson Rhodes in the middle.
“They were a big team,” Ruba said. “It came down to a lot of effort. Coach preaches win the rebounds, 50/50 balls and turnover game. I felt like we did that well.”
The Tigers will need Ruba to keep up his strong play if they hope to continue their upward trajectory. If he continues to deliver, the Tigers will have a good chance to pull off a few more surprises before the season is over.
“We’re trying to get the snowball rolling,” Hanson said. “We’re trying to get these next games too.”
This article originally appeared on Ames Tribune: Alex Ruba is big reason for Gilbert boys basketball pulling off upsets
