Turlock boys hands Merced tough basketball loss

It was only a week ago when the Merced High School boys basketball team was sitting atop the Central California Conference in a three-way tie.

The Bears now head into their final three games fighting for their playoff lives.

Merced spent most of Friday night playing from behind against Turlock, and never caught up as the Bulldogs held off the Bears 59-57 at Clemons Court in a game that ended with a controversial no-call by the referees at the buzzer.

“Now we don’t control our destiny for the (Central California Conference), but we do still control our destiny as far as the playoffs,” said Merced coach Hector Nava, whose team has fallen into a third-place tie with Pitman at 4-3, with only the top three teams in the conference earning playoff spots.

Meanwhile, Turlock (13-9, 6-1) remains alone atop the CCC, one game ahead of Golden Valley.

“This was probably our biggest game all year,” Bulldogs coach Doug Cornfoot said. “If we lose this, we’re in a three-way tie with Pitman just one game back.”

Turlock had at least one double-digit lead over Merced in all four quarters, but the Bulldogs could never deliver the knockout blow.

It almost cost them in the end as Merced (15-9) chipped away at a 12-point deficit in the fourth quarter. Jared Pazin hit two of his five three-pointers to cut the lead to 55-53 with 2:10 left.

Turlock had an opportunity to ice the game late, but Devan Bains and Demsen McFaddin both made one out of two free throws in the final seconds to give Merced the ball trailing 59-56 with 6.5 seconds left.

Turlock opted to foul Trevor Pazin in the backcourt with 1.3 seconds left. Pazin made the first free throw and then missed the second free throw on purpose.

Merced’s A.J. Stewart was gathering the ball when he was bumped by Travis Cook and the ball went out of bounds as the buzzer sounded.

Both Stewart and Nava pleaded for a foul after the play.

“There was contact, but he didn’t blow the whistle,” said Stewart, who finished with 12 points. “I can’t do anything about it. I went up and he hit me.”

Nava watched video of the play after the game.

“Was it a foul? Absolutely,” Nava said. “He has possession of the ball and as he goes up he gets hit. Personally, I don’t think one play kills you. We made a lot of mistakes. We made a lot of great plays, too. Turlock just made more plays than us.”

What was Cornfoot’s take?

“I didn’t see it, but I know it was a long 1.3 seconds,” he said. “We knew what they were going to do and Merced ran the play perfectly. We’ve had opportunities to win at the buzzer this year against Golden Valley, Lincoln, Monterey Trail and have not cashed in. It feels good to get one.”

McFaddin led four Turlock players in double figures with 17 points.

Merced, which fell behind 15-3 early on, got a career-high 19 points from Jared Pazin. Ulonzo Gilliam scored 12.

Golden Valley 74, Buhach Colony 39 in Merced – Isaac Daniel scored 19 points as all 10 Cougars on the roster scored in the rout. Golden Valley (12-11, 5-2 CCC) remains one game behind Turlock in the standings.

Pitman 56, Atwater 52 in Atwater – Branson Garcia scored 20 points as the Pride (11-10, 4-3) spoiled the Falcons’ homecoming festivities.

Pitman outscored Atwater 34-22 in the second half. Brody Patterson led Atwater (10-14, 2-5) with 12 points.

Le Grand 50, Delhi 46 (OT) in Le Grand – Beto Marquez scored 21 points as the Bulldogs worked extra time to defeat the Hawks after Carlos Alvarez hit a three-pointer at the buzzer to send the game overtime.

Girls

Dos Palos 90, Tranquillity 16 in Dos Palos – Kayla Hall poured in 22 points and Teya Vincent added 18 as the Broncos (4-1 West Sierra League) rolled to a win.

This story was originally published January 30, 2015 at 11:30 PM with the headline "Turlock boys hands Merced tough basketball loss."