Le Grand boys basketball can’t keep pace with Merced

Adrian Sanchez isn’t afraid to let his team take some lumps.

The Le Grand High School boys basketball coach scheduled up, knowing his squad might struggle against bigger schools like Merced, Livingston and Atwater. That’s OK with him, as Sanchez is far more concerned with results in February than December.

“I’m throwing a lot at the guys right now. It’s a lot of system stuff to take in all at once,” Sanchez said. “That’s OK, though. I want these guys to see what level it takes to play at. Merced is a good, quick team with some major pieces. The idea is that if we see a number of teams playing at this pace in the conference season, everything will slow down when we get into conference.”

The pace of the Bears’ game certainly gave the Bulldogs fits in a 70-23 victory Monday night at Vince Clemons Court. Merced forced 30 turnovers, including 21 steals, creating easy transition buckets.

Without an abundance of size in the middle, coach Hector Nava has made pressuring the perimeter an area of emphasis for Merced (2-1). A passive Le Grand (1-2) attack played into that in the first quarter.

The Bulldogs executed their offensive sets but seemed reluctant to shoot the ball once open. Merced took advantage, reading and jumping the extra pass to start breaks the other way. Le Grand turned over the ball 10 times and got off just seven shots in the opening quarter, sinking one. A.J. Stewart (team-high 11 points) and Jeremy Redwine (10 points) paced the Bears with six points apiece as they took a 20-3 lead.

“We were taking advantage of them not looking off their man,” said Jared Pazin, who had a team-high seven steals and 11 points. “Coach is always telling us to get up in the lanes and contest passes. We did a good job of that as a team tonight and were able to build a big lead because of it.”

The second quarter was a little more evenly played.

Le Grand became more aggressive offensively and started dribble penetrating on Merced. Fernando Aguilar scored all seven of his points in the second quarter. The Bulldogs could do little defensively to slow the Bears, however, and trailed 33-15 at the half.

The Bears wasted no time putting away the game after the break. The aggressiveness the Bulldogs displayed in the second quarter disappeared, but Merced’s increased tenfold. The Bears began attacking the basket, outscoring Le Grand 22-3 and taking a commanding 55-18 lead.

“I really appreciated our aggressiveness in the second half,” Nava said. “In a game like this, it’s easy to settle for the three. We kept going to the basket, though. I think all of our fourth-quarter points were in the paint. That’s something that’s going to be big for this team to be successful.”

Merced spread the scoring around, with Isaiah Aguirre (10 points), and Stephen Williams (10) joining Stewart and Pazin in double digits.

Giovanni Patino hit three three-pointers and scored a team-high nine points for Le Grand.

This story was originally published December 7, 2015 at 10:53 PM with the headline "Le Grand boys basketball can’t keep pace with Merced."