Atwater boys basketball remains undefeated at 17-0 after routing Golden Valley
Golden Valley High boys basketball coach Derrick Jacobs made sure he did his homework this week in preparing to face Atwater.
Jacobs wanted his players ready for any set play the Falcons may run.
It didn’t help.
Atwater didn’t hold onto the ball long enough to worry about running plays. They raced up and down the floor, turning missed shots and turnovers into easy baskets.
The Falcons attacked the Cougars with second-chance opportunities on rebound after rebound as the Falcons routed GV 79-36 to improve their undefeated record to 17-0 this season and 2-0 in the Central California Conference.
“They run the floor,” said Jacobs, whose team dropped to 9-9 overall and 1-1 in the CCC. “If you don’t get back it’s going to be a layup fest. I studied all those plays and they didn’t run one. They didn’t need to run any.”
Atwater is currently ranked second overall in the Sac-Joaquin Section by MaxPreps and one of seven teams still undefeated in the state.
It’s been a special start to the season, one that the players and coaches are making sure they take a step back and enjoy the journey.
“Once we got to about 10-0, we’re thinking like, ‘Oh, like 10-0, we’ve got a hard schedule. We’re looking pretty good,’” said Atwater senior Colton Dukes. “But at the same time everybody is trying not to look at that because we’ve got a lot more goals.”
“You definitely want to slow down and appreciate it,” added Atwater coach Kanoa Smith. “You want to enjoy the ride as long as we can.”
The Falcons have definitely caught the attention of local basketball fans. The school has started opening up the top section for games to allow more fans.
“We’re starting to pack the gym a little bit so everybody is starting to believe the hype,” Dukes said.
The Falcons gave fans plenty to cheer about as they went on an 18-2 run in the first half to open up a 27-10 lead with 6:04 left in the second quarter. Senior Tyler Parr scored nine consecutive points himself to start the second quarter and finished with 17 points.
Dukes led the Falcons with 19 points and Jayden Hillyer came off the bench to score 11.
Jeff Tangaan led Golden Valley with 20 points.
Atwater is loaded with experience with a number of players with three and four years of varsity experience.
“At any one time I could have players on the floor with at least three years of varsity experience,” Smith said. “That’s huge for us. We don’t panic and that’s why we’ve won so many close games.”
Smith and his players aren’t letting themselves get caught up in being undefeated or any winning streaks. They’ve got bigger goals that they set before this season.
“I don’t think any of us expected to be undefeated at this point but now that we’re here we’ve got a good shot keeping it throughout league,” Parr said. “The main goal is playoffs. The record doesn’t matter as much. We want to make it far in playoffs, that’s the main goal.”
