Merced blows fourth-quarter lead again in CCC basketball loss to Turlock

The Merced High School boys basketball team is starting a bad trend at the wrong time of the season.

For the second consecutive game, the Bears let a sizable fourth-quarter lead get away and now sit at the bottom of the Central California Conference at 0-2.

Turlock outscored Merced 20-4 in the fourth quarter to erase a nine-point deficit and leave Vince Clemons Court with a 51-44 victory.

That came on the heels of the Bears blowing a 13-point lead in the fourth quarter of a 63-62 loss to Buhach Colony on Friday in a CCC opener.

“I think both games we went into the fourth quarter thinking we had already won the game,” said Merced senior A.J. Stewart, who scored a game-high 24 points against Turlock. “We were unable to focus and communicate with each other.”

The Bears (9-9 overall) went on a 13-0 run to open a 38-26 lead with 2:18 left in the third quarter.

With a nine-point lead starting the fourth period, Merced came out too comfortable. The Bulldogs (3-16, 2-0) forced a couple turnovers with their press and turned them into layups on the other end to quickly cut the lead to 42-39 midway through the quarter.

“That press was something we put in last week, and the kids responded to it,” Turlock coach Doug Cornfoot said. “We know you have to stop A.J. and (Jared) Pazin. They hit some shots early. A.J. hit some deep threes, but I think we got them out of rhythm when we started trapping them.”

Mitchell Pryschuk pulled Turlock even at 42-all with a three-pointer with 2:27 left that forced Merced to call a timeout.

The Bears went cold in the fourth, as they were 0 for 5 from three-point range and 1 for 11 from the floor.

“We just can’t finish,” Stewart said. “We’re not under control, we’re not focused, we’re not poised. Everything is just hectic.”

Habib Velasquez drew a foul on Jacob Busko to get to the free-throw line with 1:24 left and sank both shots to give Turlock a 44-42 lead, its first lead since early in the third quarter.

Pazin (nine points) missed a three-pointer on the other end with about a minute to go.

Merced still had plenty of time to get a stop without fouling and play for the tie or win, but the Bears fouled three times, which chewed up about 20 seconds.

Turlock then ran an inbound play that got point guard Oscar Moreno wide open for a layup, and he was fouled by Stewart. Moreno’s free throw gave Turlock a 47-42 lead with 27 seconds remaining. Moreno scored 22 points.

Isaiah Aguirre and Stewart missed threes in the final 16 seconds, and Turlock iced the game from the free-throw line.

“I think the biggest thing for us was our defense the last 2 1/2 minutes,” Cornfoot said. “The key was limiting them to one shot. We were able to come down and get a couple baskets, which helped us get some separation. After we got that separation, we were able to hit our free throws, which is something we haven’t been doing.”

Buhach Colony 80, Golden Valley 60 in Merced – The Thunder (8-10, 2-0 CCC) blew open a one-point game by outscoring the Cougars 26-7 in the fourth quarter. Jake Walejko led Buhach Colony with 19 points and 11 rebounds and five assists and Jeremy Sicarios scored 18.

Collin Hayes, Thai Weatherby and Saahil Malhi all scored 12 points for Golden Valley (0-2 CCC).

Pitman 73, Atwater 42 in Turlock – The Pride jumped out to a 46-25 lead at halftime. Gurman Takhar led six Pitman players in double-figures with 13 points. Kyle Anaya paced the Falcons (0-2 CCC) with 19 points.

El Capitan 55, Pacheco 34 in Los Banos – Jarod Latona’s 15 points helped the Gauchos cruise to a win over the Panthers to improve to 12-5 overall and 3-0 in the Western Athletic Conference. James Sellers added 12 points on four 3-pointers for El Captian.

Central Valley 65, Los Banos 45 in Los Banos – David Gluhkovskiy poured in 27 points as the Hawks routed the Tigers. Cameryn Gomez led Los Banos (5-9, 0-2 WAC) with 10 points.

This story was originally published January 13, 2016 at 10:27 PM with the headline "Merced blows fourth-quarter lead again in CCC basketball loss to Turlock."