Trailing just 13-10 after the first quarter and 21-19 at the half, it was the third quarter that spelled doom for the Escalon JV basketball boys on the road this past week.

They faced off with Amador in the road game and had trouble containing one player, who went for double digits quickly.

“One guy scored all their points in the first quarter, he outscored us 13-10 all by himself and he ended up with 24 points total,” said coach Nate Bartelink. “In the first half we were only down by two so we stayed in it, but the third quarter was our downfall.”

Amador came out of the locker room and hammered Escalon, 26-3, in the third quarter, the Cougars were a bucket better in the final frame at 7-5 but it was a lopsided 52-29 win for the host team.

“We had a lot of turnovers, the defense was pretty poor,” admitted Bartelink. “It was just a lackluster performance in the second half.”

Lucca Dutra paced the JV squad with 11 points and Mike Carroll added eight. Frank Leal chipped in with four.

“They’re good but they are beatable, for sure,” Bartelink added of Amador.

Escalon will have a chance to go after the squad again, as they open up with Amador in the upcoming holiday tournament hosted in Escalon from Wednesday, Dec. 28 through Friday, Dec. 30.

“The kids just need to be more consistent,” the coach said.

They are due to wrap up an appearance in the Johansen Tournament today, Wednesday, Dec. 21, having opened up that three-day tourney on Monday, Dec. 19 against Beyer.

FRESHMEN

In a hard fought, close contest, the youngest Cougars prevailed over Amador with a 56-50 victory on the road. Colton Panero and Kaidence Trejo were top scorers for the team in the win, said coach Dave Anderson. They were slated to be back in action at Summerville on Monday, Dec. 19 and then have time for some practices before getting on the court for their tournament Dec. 28 through 30. So far this preseason, the freshmen have compiled a 3-6 record.