Notebook: ‘He was the difference maker for us.’ Golden Valley star named MVP.
As a third-year varsity player, Golden Valley’s Etrell Bowers had grown into a leader this season. The type of player who didn’t care about his own personal stats, but instead put the team first.
Bowers contributed in all areas for the Cougars, leading the Central California Conference champions in points, rebounds, steals and blocks this season.
With Bowers leading the way, Golden Valley made a perfect 12-0 run through the CCC and the conference coaches selected Bowers as the Most Valuable Player.
“He was the difference maker for us on most nights,” said Cougars coach Keith Hunter, who was named the CCC Coach of the Year. “He is a bigger, stronger, faster type of kid on the floor a lot of the time. It wasn’t always just with his scoring. He’s great at blocking shots, rebounding and getting steals.
“I think he was the best player in the league.”
Bowers averaged 13 points and 7.3 rebounds per game this season.
“It means a lot,” Bowers said. “I felt I worked had and played with a lot of energy. I was a leader on the team and helped get us to where we wanted to be, which was the best team in the league.”
Bowers said his biggest improvement was learning what it means to be a leader. He says he was more selfish when he was a sophomore.
“My job was to set the tone for the games,” Bowers said. “I had to make big plays and keep a positive attitude.”
Golden Valley also landed two players in Aurrion Harris and Bryan Livesay on the all-CCC first team. They were joined by the El Capitan duo of Marcus McCuthen and Dillon Greenwood, Merced’s Dhameer Warren, Central Valley’s Max Sanchez and Buhach Colony’s Gerald Braxton.
The second-team selections were Patterson’s Semaj Pearson, El Capitan’s Anthony Yang, Atwater’s Robert Smid and Buhach Colony’s Jake Abrams and Anoop Nagra.
Mariposa knocked out of NorCal Playoffs
The Grizzlies’ playoff run ended with a a 52-40 loss to No. 3 Caruthers in the Northern California Regional Division V playoffs on Thursday night.
The Blue Raiders built the lead as high as 19 points in the second half.
Milea Appling led the Grizzlies (26-3) with 14 points. Lily Heavner added 12 points for Mariposa.
Perfect game for Bertuccio
Golden Valley ace Marissa Bertuccio picked up where she left off from last season.
The Cougars senior opened the year with a perfect game in a 2-0 win over Turlock on Wednesday afternoon. Bertuccio struck out 13 batters in the process.
The Sacramento State-bound senior was the Sun-Star Softball Player of the Year last year after finished the season with a 21-6 record and a 0.64 ERA. Bertuccio tossed five no-hitters last year, including two perfect games.
This story was originally published March 1, 2019 at 2:04 PM.
