Merced keeps throttle down in CCC basketball rout of Buhach Colony

The Merced High School boys basketball team seems to have learned its lesson.

The Bears opened Central California Conference play 0-3, dropping two tight games they led going into the fourth quarter. The most egregious of those collapses was an 11-point meltdown at Buhach Colony on Jan. 8 in which the Bears eased off the gas and tried to run out the clock. It proved costly with the Thunder holding a one-game lead over Merced for the CCC’s third and final playoff spot entering Wednesday night.

A.J. Stewart, Jared Pazin and company made sure there was no repeat performance, getting up on Buhach Colony early and never slowing down in a 73-51 victory at Vince Clemons Court.

“When you execute and rep the right way in practice, you know it’s just a matter of time before it all comes together for a team,” Bears coach Hector Nava said. “I think in the past when we’ve gotten up and began to feel the other team’s pressure, we’ve gotten methodical. We’ve let up to try and calm everything down instead of continuing to attack.

“Tonight, we maintained our poise and executed against their full-court pressure. Every time they started to make a run, we kept our heads and answered right back.”

Stewart (game-high 28 points and seven rebounds) and Pazin (20 points, five steals) set the offensive tone for the Bears (12-10, 3-3 CCC), combining for 11 first-quarter points.

The score was tied 5-5 before Merced closed the opening quarter with a 12-0 run. One of Pazin’s five three-pointers capped the run, giving the Bears a 17-5 lead.

“Coach told me going back to last year when he brought me up that I’ve been a guy for this team,” Pazin said. “I had to start showing it. I did my best to be aggressive, and I got some wide-open looks early that got me going.”

Jake Walejko (team-high 16 points) and Andrew Morris (nine points) did their best to get the Thunder (9-14, 3-3 CCC) back into the game. The seniors combined for 11 points attacking the basket in the second quarter, but Buhach’s problem was getting stops.

Merced hit 13 of 28 shots from the field in the opening half, good for a 33-20 lead.

Despite the frantic pace of the opening half, Nava urged his team to keep going. He opened his bench a little more liberally than usual, doing his best to keep fresh legs on the court. The Bears followed the script, opening the second half with a 9-0 run and pushing their lead to 42-20 on another Pazin three.

Buhach answered behind Kory Woods. The senior scored all 10 of his points in the second half, seven during a 10-0 run that brought the Thunder back within 42-30. That was as close as Buhach would get, however.

Behind Stewart, Pazin and Jeremy Redwine – who scored nine of his 11 points after the break – the Bears were even more efficient offensively in the second half. Merced made 15 of 24 shots to pull away.

“You’re not adding a lot of stuff at this time of year, so practice is pretty much just reps and shooting,” Nava said. “We’re starting to see that extra shooting pay off with our execution. Now, the question is, can we do it at Turlock?”

Turlock 50, Atwater 47 in Atwater – Juan Walle had a team-high 16 points and Reggie Ricks 12 for the Falcons (9-13, 1-5 CCC), but the Bulldogs (7-16, 6-0) eked out a road victory to remain perfect in league play.

Turlock’s Habib Velasquez led all scorers with 18.

Pitman 60, Golden Valley 40 in Merced – Cyrus Allen scored 10 points and Silvestre Llamas nine, but the Cougars (3-20, 0-6 CCC) couldn’t make a halftime lead stand.

Jando Diaz finished with a game-high 17 points for the Pride (12-7, 5-1).

El Capitan 59, Ceres 46 in Merced – Isaiah Knott stayed hot for the Gauchos, scoring a game-high 25 points. Marcellus Jones had 11, and El Capitan (16-5, 6-0 Western Athletic Conference) stayed perfect in WAC play with a win over the Bulldogs (7-13, 4-3).

Livingston 59, Pacheco 31 in Livingston – Harmon Dhami scored 16 points and Josh Penrod added 15 for the Wolves, who jumped out to a 19-4 lead by the end of the first quarter and coasted to a win over the Panthers.

College Men

Porterville 89, Merced College 57 in Merced – Jonathan Chairez (team-high 17 points) had five of the Blue Devils’ 11 three-pointers, but it wasn’t enough in a loss to the Pirates.

Anthony Nolen added 14 points and Jose Gonzales chipped in for MC (2-17, 0-6 Central Valley Conference) 13 in the loss.

Women

Merced College 69, Porterville 45 in Merced – Mele Tupouata was dominant down low with 12 points and 23 rebounds, while Tatyana Taylor (12 points) lit it up with four three-pointers from the outside in a Lady Devils (12-10, 4-2 CVC) victory.

Anntranetta Strickman had a team-high 14 points and Jovanah Arrington added 13 to help keep MC tied for second in the CVC.

This story was originally published January 27, 2016 at 10:39 PM with the headline "Merced keeps throttle down in CCC basketball rout of Buhach Colony."