Atwater boys basketball avoids buzzer-beater by Merced to hold serve at home in CCC action
So far, the top five boys basketball teams in the Central California Conference have held serve on their home court during conference place.
Atwater, Golden Valley, Merced, El Capitan and Patterson are a combined 11-0 in CCC play at home after Friday night.
The Bears had a shot to steal one at Atwater, but missed a shot at the buzzer in a 38-37 loss to the Falcons.
That first CCC team to pick up a big road win might find itself in the driver’s seat for the conference championship.
“We had to move this (Merced) game so we had four home games the first time through,” said Atwater coach Kanoa Smith, whose team improved to 4-1 in the CCC and 10-9 overall. “That means we’re going to have four road games the second time through. We’re going to have to be ready because it’s not going to be easy.”
There was nothing easy about Friday’s win over Merced (2-3 CCC, 10-11).
The Falcons closed out the first half with a 13-4 run to open up a 30-16 lead at intermission.
Atwater put itself in good position if it could put two solid halves together.
“The first two minutes of the second half were going to determine if we could coast a big or if we’d have to fight for it,” Smith said. “(Merced) came out and punched us square in the mouth.”
The Bears opened the second half with a 16-4 run to cut the Falcons’ lead to just 34-32 with 1:34 left in the third quarter. Keaton Hillyer led the way for Merced, scoring 10 of his game-high 15 points during that stretch.
The Bears trailed just 36-34 heading into the fourth quarter, but then both offenses went cold.
The two teams combined for just five fourth-quarter points.
Merced went scoreless in the fourth quarter until Hillyer was fouled shooting a 3-pointer with 27 seconds left in the game. He drained all three free throws to pull the Bears within 38-37.
Merced then forced a turnover with 11 seconds left to earn one final shot at victory.
Hillyer was able to get in the lane, but his floater rimmed out and teammate Donovan Marshall was unable to gather the rebound for a putback at the buzzer.
“Me and (Hillyer) were talking all game,” said Atwater senior Nguyen. “Before that last play, I told him, ‘I’m sorry, but I’m going to have to face guard you.’ They ran a rub and I switched off of him. When he got the ball and took that last shot my heart dropped for a second.”
The Falcons were able to hold off Merced for the key victory despite scoring just eight second-half points. Fernando Torres Diaz led Atwater with nine points and Nguyen added eight points.
The Falcons find themselves tied with Patterson at 4-1 atop the CCC with Golden Valley right behind at 3-1. The Tigers defeated El Capitan 56-39 on Friday night.
Atwater is trying to win a fourth consecutive CCC championship.
“For us it’s all about energy and effort,” Smith said. “We had great energy in the first half and terrible energy in the second half. We have to rely on our defense because we don’t know what we’re going to get offensively night to night.”
Nguyen says this team wants to keep the championship run going.
“We need consistent effort every day,” he said. “We need to dive on the floor and play with a lot of energy. When our shots aren’t falling we can’t take that to the defensive end.”
“A fourth straight championship would be huge because it’s never been done at Atwater. When coach Smith took over he didn’t have a lot of wins right away. He had to climb his way to the top. That’s what this team needs to do. We want to create a legacy.”
