Golden Valley trio delivers in basketball win

For the Golden Valley High School boys basketball team to be successful, the Cougars need to count on the trio of Isaac Daniel, Lee McNeill and Collin Hayes to score.

All three delivered Monday night, combining for 36 points as Golden Valley defeated Gregori 60-52 at Cougar Arena.

“We’ve got to get big games from Lee, Isaac and Collin,” said Cougars coach Keith Hunter, whose team improved to 4-3. “We did. All three scored in double figures.”

Daniel and McNeill are returning seniors and expected to play bigger roles this season. Daniel scored 12 points while handling the point guard duties. McNeill had 11 points while playing all over the floor. Hayes is a first-year varsity player as a junior who is asked to give the Cougars a threat down low.

So far, so good.

“Collin can be really good,” Hunter said. “I keep telling him he can be a beast. He’s learning a lot of basketball. He’s studying the game, watching film with me. He’s a smart kid, and he’s learning the game.”

Hayes feels he and his teammates learned a lot from their recent struggles during the Nevada Union Invitational that saw the Cougars go 1-2 with losses to Wood of Vacaville and Enterprise of Redding. Golden Valley will play Enterprise again Thursday in the Red Bluff Christmas Tournament.

“We watched film from this weekend, and we learned a lot of basic fundamentals from our mistakes,” Hayes said.

The Cougars’ full-court press was effective against the Jaguars (3-4), forcing Gregori to go faster than it wanted at times and leading to turnovers.

“We’ve been bothered by that all year,” Jaguars coach Mike Vander Molen said. “Golden Valley does a good job at what they do, and we played into their hands. We were too aggressive at times and too passive at times.”

The game was tight throughout with neither team leading by more than nine until the Cougars opened a 60-49 lead in the final minute.

Golden Valley scored the final five points of the first half to take a 30-28 lead into intermission. A three-pointer by Daniel late in the third quarter helped the Cougars extend the lead to 43-38 heading into the fourth quarter.

Freshman Cyprus Allen gave Hunter some big minutes early in the fourth quarter with four points, two rebounds and two blocks that helped Golden Valley open a 51-43 lead with 5:03 left.

The Jaguars didn’t threaten again.

“I thought the effort was solid. It was much better than this weekend,” Hunter said. “The energy and enthusiasm was what I want to see. This is what we have to do. It was great to see us on the boards. We have to rebound. We have to be junkyard dogs.”

This story was originally published December 16, 2014 at 3:52 PM with the headline "Golden Valley trio delivers in basketball win."