Buhach Colony offense disappears in Turlock rout

Turlock High School’s sole defensive goal entering the second half was to stop Buhach Colony’s dribble penetration.

Bulldogs coach Doug Cornfoot felt the Thunder had gotten to the basket far too easily in the opening half Friday night and challenged his squad to make things more difficult after the break. Things definitely didn’t come easy for the Buhach offense in the final 16 minutes.

Whether it was Turlock’s increased defensive awareness, an Antarctic-level cold shooting hand or a combination of the two, the Thunder offense was almost nonexistent in the second half. Buhach hit just four shots from the field, and a two-point contest at the break turned into a 53-32 Bulldogs rout at the Thunderdome.

“We were pretty much as cold as cold gets in the second half,” Buhach coach John Bliss said. “We were about as bad as we could play offensively. It’s just one of those things that happens in basketball sometimes. You can’t really put your finger on one thing or one guy why we all of a sudden couldn’t make a bucket.

“One thing I will say is the tempo was in their favor all game. We were able to speed things up a few times and get enough buckets to keep it close in the first half. We didn’t do that at all in the second half.”

The battle of Central California Conference unbeatens started entertainingly enough, with both teams going blow for blow out of the gate.

Turlock’s Habib Velasquez made his presence felt early, striking for six of his game-high 17 points in the opening quarter to go with two of his six blocks. Rick Heidelbach added four points, and the Bulldogs (4-16, 3-0 CCC) led 12-7 after one quarter.

Buhach (2-1 CCC) rode its defensive pressure back into the game. Turlock turned over the ball seven times in the second quarter, and the Thunder got going offensively with transition buckets. Andrew Morris scored four of his team-high 11 points in the quarter, and Alex Andrade scored three as Buhach trimmed the lead to 23-21 entering halftime.

The Thunder offense did not reemerge from the locker room for the second half. Buhach shot 1 of 11 from the field in the third quarter and 4 of 23 in the second half. The Buhach defense managed to keep things competitive for a while, but Turlock finally pulled away with a run to close the third quarter.

A Will Hilgen three-pointer with just under two minutes to play in the third gave the Bulldogs a 10-point lead for the first time. Hilgen scored all 10 of his points in the second half. The Thunder would never get it back to within single digits.

“We went into the second half thinking it was going to be like our first two games, where the pace of our offense would wear them down,” said Morris, who had three of Buhach’s four buckets in the second half. “On defense, we executed for the most part. Holding them to 53 points is a game we think we should win. I just don’t think we put up enough shots in the second half, and the ones we did, we obviously didn’t make.”

Velasquez left no doubt in the fourth quarter. The senior big man drained a three-pointer to open the quarter and then went to work in the post. He scored nine points in the fourth quarter to help break the game open.

“Habib’s got skills, but sometimes, he’s the kind of guy you have to get on to get going,” Cornfoot said. “He’s a better player when he plays a little bit angry. I could tell tonight that he really wanted the ball.

“It was also nice to see us knock down some threes in the fourth quarter. Hopefully, that opens Pandora’s box for us, because we haven’t shot the three well all year. It was good to see some guys get comfortable and have the confidence to knock some down.”

Things didn’t go much better for the Thunder on Saturday. The Madera South rims proved slightly more kind, but the outcome was just as convincing as Buhach (8-13) fell 67-44.

Atwater 74, Golden Valley 59 in Merced – Kyle Anaya (game-high 20 points), Reggie Ricks (18) and Juan Walle (17) had big nights as the Falcons (9-10, 1-2 CCC) picked up their first league win.

Thai Weatherby had a team-high 10 points for the Cougars (3-15, 0-3 CCC) while Cyrus Allen and Collin Hayes each scored nine.

This story was originally published January 15, 2016 at 10:56 PM with the headline "Buhach Colony offense disappears in Turlock rout."