El Capitan needs fourth-quarter comeback to defeat Atwater, remains atop CCC standings.
The El Capitan High boys basketball team have been walking a tight rope the last few weeks as they’ve tried to earn at least a share of the Central California Conference championship.
The Gauchos’ high-wire act continued on Wednesday night as they dug deep to pull out another win in the fourth quarter with a 58-52 victory over Atwater on the road.
“At times we play great and at other times we play undisciplined,” said El Capitan coach Adrian Hurtado, whose team improved to 16-10 overall and 9-1 in the Central California Conference. “We just don’t have the team this year where we can afford to be undisciplined. We have to grind out wins. Fortunately, our players have made some great plays in the fourth quarter to win games.”
Since defeating Golden Valley last week to pull even atop the CCC, the Gauchos have not made it easy on themselves to stay atop the conference.
El Capitan went into the fourth quarter tied against Buhach Colony before using a 17-0 run in the final quarter to seal the victory. Against Merced, El Capitan again found itself tied with the Bears at 29-29 at the end of the three quarters. The Gauchos outscored Merced 10-0 in the fourth quarter to pull out that victory.
On Wednesday, the Gauchos trailed 44-41 to the Falcons heading into the fourth quarter. Again they found a way to win.
Dillon Greenwood, who was in foul trouble throughout the game, scored eight of his 12 points in the fourth quarter to help lead the Gauchos.
Marcus McCutchen made five of six free throws in the final quarter for five of his 12 points for El Capitan.
Brody Collins added 10 points and Joe Serena drained three 3-pointers for all nine of his points.
Atwater was led by Colton Dukes, who finished with 13 points. Nathan Knight added 11 points.
“The second half of the league has been a long grind,” Hurtado said. “Since we beat Golden Valley it seems like it’s taking forever to get through each league game. After beating Golden Valley, we know we’re going to get everybody’s best shot.”
This story was originally published February 5, 2020 at 9:37 PM.
