Merced loses basketball season opener to Gregori

The Merced High boys basketball team expects to contend for a second consecutive Central California Conference championship.

The Bears have a lot of work to do in the next month if that’s going to happen.

Merced struggled in a season-opening 53-49 loss to Gregori on the first day of the Modesto City Classic on Wednesday afternoon at Modesto High.

“We’ve got to put in a lot of work,” said Merced coach Hector Nava. “To break it down by component. Defensively, we need a lot of work with our fullcourt communication and halfcourt communication. We have to fine-tune a lot of our defensive principles. How do you fine-tune it? With a lot of reps.

“Offensively, we’re nowhere near where we need to be. Our guys are still unsure what they’re doing. The mind-set is there. The hard work is there. We just need time.”

The pieces are definitely there for the Bears.

A.J. Stewart got to the basket with ease at times against the Jaguars. The junior guard scored eight of his 13 points in the second half as Merced trimmed a seven-point deficit to one twice in the third quarter.

The Bears turned up the pressure in their fullcourt press in the second half, forcing Gregori into 11 turnovers in the third and fourth quarters.

However, Merced struggled sustaining momentum.

“All our football players barely came back,” said senior Travis Pazin, who led all scorers with 15 points. “We haven’t practiced much with them. We have to get them up to speed with our sets and plays. Hopefully, over the next few weeks or months, we can all get on the same page.”

The Jaguars hurt Merced on the boards, turning second-chance opportunities into easy baskets. With the Bears’ lack of size, it will likely be an issue all season.

Alex Badillo paced Gregori with 14 points and Demetrius Vinson added 11.

Merced was in striking distance throughout the game but couldn’t pull even. Gregori pulled away early in the fourth quarter with an 8-2 run to take a 44-35 lead after Badillo scored and was fouled with 5:39 left in the game.

Pazin helped Merced pull within 53-49 late with a layup and a three-pointer with 48 seconds left.

Gregori did its best to help the Bears complete the comeback with a late turnover, three missed free throws and then later fouling to send Merced to the line. The Bears couldn’t capitalize as they missed a layup on a fast break and missed the front end of a one-and-one with 9.3 seconds left.

“We missed a lot of high-percentage shots,” Nava said. “I don’t know if it was fatigue or not focusing on each putback. We went on a nice little run, but we couldn’t get over the hump. We’re right there and then we give up a long pass and then we’re down three or five points again.”

The Bears are back in action tonight against Modesto at 6:30 p.m.

This story was originally published December 3, 2014 at 10:38 PM with the headline "Merced loses basketball season opener to Gregori."