Golden Valley boys pull out overtime victory at Patterson to move all alone atop CCC
The Golden Valley High boys basketball team survived a 59-29 overtime victory at Patterson on Friday night to take over sole possession of first place in the Central California Conference at the midpoint of conference play.
The Cougars outscored the Tigers 9-2 in overtime to improve to 5-1 in the CCC and 16-6 overall. Senior Ricardo Perez scored six of his 16 points in the overtime to lead Golden Valley.
“One thing we preach is being resilient,” said Golden Valley coach Derrick Jacobs. “We need to learn to overcome adversity. We put them in some tough situations during practice. It’s something we rehearse in practice. They were prepared for moments like this.”
The Cougars had to regroup after Patterson (4-2 CCC, 15-5) erased a 17-point halftime deficit to force overtime.
David Nnaji and Amari Coley led the second-half charge for the Patterson. The duo combined for 31 of the Tigers’ 38 points in the second half and overtime. Nnaji finished with a game-high 22 points and Coley added 18 points.
“Patterson is 15-5 for a reason,” Jacobs said. “They can play ball and they executed off of mistakes.”
The Cougars didn’t fold.
Jacobs credited to the play of Perez and Braden Castleton, who led the Cougars with 18 points. Joey Spielman played well on the defensive end and chipped in with seven points. David Denson hit a big shot in overtime and sank two key free throws in the extra period to preserve the victory.
The win now puts Golden Valley atop the CCC with six games to play. The Cougars will travel to Merced on Monday to begin the second round of conference play.
Jacobs said the key to finishing out the title run will be if his team can remain consistent.
“We’ve got to be us, nobody else,” Jacobs said. “We have to do what we do. We can’t play to the talent of the other team or play their tempo. We’ve got to play our game.”
