Gauchos hoping experience pays off in competitive CCC. No problem in opener.

El Capitan High boys basketball coach Adrian Hurtado has the luxury of 10 seniors on his roster. That’s experience he can count on.

Nine of them have been in Hurtado’s system for more than a year now. They know his expectations. They know the offense, defense and different presses.

“It’s totally different this year,” said senior point guard Angel Serena. “We were super young last year. James (Sellers) was our only true leader along with me being a point guard. With 10 seniors this year everyone is a leader. Everyone knows when we make a mistake and how to fix it quickly.”

The experience was on display during Wednesday night’s Central California Conference opener against Turlock. A few minutes into the game, the Bulldogs switched their defense was a man to a zone.

The Gauchos didn’t flinch.

They immediately went into their zone offense. Everyone knew where to be on the court and the players whipped the ball around the court.

Serena knocked down a 3-pointer from the top of the key. Fellow senior Mark Sellers came off the bench to quickly know down a pair of 3-pointers from the left side and El Capitan was off and rolling to a 63-40 win at the Stable Center.

“All preseason teams have zoned us,” said Hurtado, whose team improved to 12-4 overall. “We’ve been pretty good against man so teams have tried to slow us down by going to zones. Our kids are used to it. We’re comfortable in our zone offense.”

The Gauchos made 6 of 11 from beyond the arc in the first half.

Meanwhile, Turlock struggled against El Capitan’s full-court 2-2-1 zone press, turning the ball over 20 times. El Capitan’s depth allows the Gauchos to press nonstop as Hurtado shuffles fresh bodies in and out of the lineup.

Sellers, Marcus McCutchen and TJ Wills led the Gauchos in scoring with 13 points each.

Cameron Sherwood led Turlock with 12 points and Arik Bains added 10.

The Bulldogs trailed by double-digits for most of the game, but cut a 19-point lead down to 12 early in the fourth quarter with a 7-0 run to the start the quarter.

The Gauchos responded with a 12-0 run of their own to put the game away. The junior McCutchen drove to the basket to get the run started. Sellers threw down a dunk after a steal and later added two free throws. Another steal and basket by Serena extended the lead to 60-36 with 4:37 remaining.

The Gauchos experience will be necessary in what should be a very competitive CCC. Turlock was the only team that entered conference play with a losing record and the Bulldogs played a tough schedule.

“Every league game is going to be a battle,” Hurtado said. “I think the conference is better this year. Our kids have bought in. We have to stay with the concepts. The scouting reports go from two to five pages in league. Any given night in league, Merced, Golden Valley, Pitman are going to be tough to beat. It’s going to be fun every night.”

Hurtado’s system which includes pressing nonstop can only work if every player buys in. They need to go all-out while they are on the floor, knowing someone will come in to replace them when they get tired.

“Last year was new to us with a first-year coach,” Serena said. “Everyone has bought into the system.”

“They say you always win with seniors,” Hurtado said. “We hope this is the year. This is a solid group. They are a joy to be around. It’s a special group that works hard.”

Buhach Colony 68, Golden Valley 65 in Atwater – Irik Dobbins drained a 3-pointer with 17 seconds left to give the Thunder a 67-65 lead. Dobbins added a free throw before Golden Valley’s Etrell Bowers missed on a game-tying three-point attempt at the buzzer.

The Cougars (10-5, 0-1 CCC) had taken a 65-64 lead with 1:07 left after a Devon Martinez 3-pointer and a basket by Bowers.

Dobbins led the Thunder with 25 points. Jake Abrams also contributed 12 points and Anoop Nigra also had 10 points. Buhach Colony has won five of its last six games to improve to 9-7 overall and 1-0 in the CCC.

Bowers finished with 18 points for Golden Valley. Cyrus Allen added 17 and Martinez chipped in with 16.

“We’re starting to play together. We’re starting to gel a little bit,” said Buhach Colony coach Steve Abrams.

Pitman 54, Atwater 37 in Turlock – Saul Avitia scored 20 points as the Falcons (9-7) dropped their CCC opener on the road. Fernando Jeronimo added 11 points for Atwater.

Boys Soccer

Atwater 0, Pitman 0 in Turlock – The Falcons (5-4-2- overall) and Pride battled to a scoreless draw in the CCC opener for both teams on Wednesday afternoon.

Dos Palos 16, Immanuel 0 in Dos Palos – Victor Rivas scored five goals and Jose Rodriguez scored four times as the Broncos improved to 6-1-1 this season.

This story was originally published January 3, 2018 at 10:20 PM with the headline "Gauchos hoping experience pays off in competitive CCC. No problem in opener.."