‘I think we can play better.’ Golden Valley not satisfied being alone atop the CCC
The Golden Valley High boys basketball team seemed to be stuck on nine points forever in the first half. It was actually only a 4-minute, 22-second scoring drought in game time.
That same team needed only a little over 5 minutes to run off 20 consecutive points in the third quarter to seize control against Merced as the Cougars went on to defeat their crosstown rivals 51-29 on Friday night at Cougar Arena.
“It’s funny what happens when the ball goes in,” said Golden Valley coach Keith Hunter, whose team won their sixth game in a row to improve to 17-5 overall and 6-0 in the Central California Conference. “I thought Zack Fernandez gave a little boost there in the third quarter. He knocked down a couple shots and that helped get us going.”
Fernandez drained two 3-pointers during the Cougars’ 20-0 run for six of his seven points on the night.
It was a nightmare third quarter for Merced (9-13, 3-3 CCC), which turned the ball over seven times and went 0 for 5 from beyond the 3-point line.
The Bears struggled against the different full-court presses that Golden Valley threw at them. Merced finished with 21 turnovers. Too much for a guard-heavy team.
“That’s correct,” Merced coach Hector Nava said. “It takes practice and poise to handle those situations. You’ve got to know the flow of the game and you can’t make the game that complicated. At times it looked like we had no rhythm or flow, and we made the game too complicated.”
Etrell Bowers had easy picking as the center fielder in the Golden Valley press. Bowers finished with eight steals to go with nine points and six rebounds.
Junior Aurrion Harris helped pick up the slack when the Cougars offense struggled in the first half, scoring 10 of his game-high 13 points in the second quarter. Harris knocked down two key 3-pointers that jump-started GV’s offense after the first-half scoring drought, helping the Cougars take a 23-17 lead into the half.
“That’s the best feeling when you knock down a couple shots,” Harris said. “It makes you feel like you’re going to hit every shot.”
Harris gives the Cougars some athleticism and length with his 6-foot-2 frame and ability to shoot and slash.
“I think he has a lot of potential,” Hunter said. “The sky is the limit with him. We just need to get him to go to the rim a little stronger. We need him to go after rebounds a littler harder, just some of the little things. He gets some rebounds that you don’t think he has a chance to get.”
Hunter likes how his team is playing at this point in the season. What coach wouldn’t be happy at 6-0, alone atop the conference standings?
However, he said the Cougars have a higher ceiling as they get ready for the stretch run that starts on Wednesday with a big matchup against second-place El Capitan (16-5, 5-1 CCC).
“I think we can play better,” Hunter said. “I think we can improve. I think this is where we thought we’d be. I feel we have a talented, deep team, but it’s not easy. We have to continue to putting in a great effort and hustle.”
El Capitan 60, Central Valley 52 in Ceres – The Gauchos erased an eight-point halftime deficit to keep pace with Golden Valley in the CCC standings. El Capitan has had to come from behind in the second half in three of its five CCC wins.
Senior Marcus McCutchen led the Gauchos with 18 points. Dillon Greenwood added 13 points and Abraham Esquivel scored 12 for El Capitan.
Buhach Colony 65, Atwater 38 in Atwater – Gerald Braxton scored 30 points, making 14 shots from the floor to help the Thunder even their record in the CCC at 3-3. Jake Abrams added 11 points for BC.
Robert Smid led Atwater (1-5 CCC) with 12 points.
Riverbank 73, Livingston 44 in Riverbank – Cesar Avila finished with 20 points and 18 rebounds for the Wolves, who dropped to 10-12 overall and 2-4 in the Trans-Valley League.
Boys Soccer
Buhach Colony 5 Atwater 2 in Atwater – Angel Herrera scored two goals as the Thunder (2-3-1 CCC) defeated the Falcons on Saturday. Jonathan Rodriguez added a goal and two assists for BC and Marcos Gomez scored and picked up an assist.
Alex Guteirrez ad Alex Pena both scored goals for the Falcons (1-4-1 CCC).
Golden Valley 3 Merced 2 in Merced – Carlos Garcia scored the winning goal on a penalty kick in the 66th minute as the Cougars improved to 2-1-3 in the CCC..Noe Camero and Manny Madrigal scored the other two GV goals. Fabian Ramirez recorded an assits and Jose Calderon recorded four saves.
This story was originally published January 18, 2019 at 10:01 PM.