Three home games in a week was a nice holiday present for Escalon’s basketball boys, as they faced off with a trio of opponents and had more time to study for finals.
The teams were on the court Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday.
On Tuesday, Dc. 19 the varsity took a 75-48 win over Central Valley of Ceres. The host Cougars jumped out to a 34-9 lead in the first quarter and kept the Hawks at bay the entire contest.
“We hit them early and were able to maintain a 30 point lead the rest of the game. Our first seven guys that played that night played at a really high level in the first quarter. We’re able to play at a fast pace on both ends that most teams can’t match for a full game; we’re able to score in bunches,” said head coach Nate Bartelink. “It was nice being able to get all 15 players in the game and get most of them ample playing time. With 15 players on the roster, it’s extremely difficult managing minutes from game to game. I give our reserves a lot of credit. They are playing behind a lot of really talented players. They work hard in practice and push our main rotation players, which makes us a better team.”
Thirteen of the 15 players got in the scorebook for the game.
“The coaching staff wasn’t really satisfied with how we played the last three quarters of the game though,” admitted Bartelink. “We didn’t take care of the ball and our defense wasn’t to our standard. With that being said, we’ll take the 27-point win and move on.”
Ethan Garza had 18 points, in basically one half of basketball, while Logan Huebner had 12 points. Cam Dalpogetti put in seven points on the night.
“Sam Jimenez had 10 points in limited minutes compared to what he’s used to playing,” Bartelink added. “Ryan Lewis had nine points; he’s come along nicely the last couple of weeks, transitioning well from football to basketball.”
Against Argonaut on Dec. 20, Escalon took a 73-34 win, outscoring the visitors 25-12 in the first quarter to set the tone.
“We responded well to the inconsistent performance in the previous game and put together four good quarters. Pretty much anyone that was inserted into the game was productive; 10 players scored at least four points, giving us good offensive balance,” Bartelink explained.
Unfortunately, he added, the end of the game overshadowed a really good team performance for the first 29 minutes of the contest. With under three minutes to play, Cougar Ryan Murphy dove for a loose ball near the Argonaut bench.
“In doing so, he made contact with the opponent, who also was diving for the ball at the same time, in the same direction. Some of the players on Argonaut’s bench didn’t seem to appreciate Ryan giving great effort and diving on the floor in an attempt to secure the loose ball, which is what we preach, and started to get a little physical as Ryan tried to stand up,” Bartelink said. “There was a bit of pushing, but cooler heads prevailed. Considering the location where this took place in front of their bench and what the score was, things could have been worse, but I give our guys credit for keeping their composure in a tense situation, for the most part. We can’t let our emotions get the best of us. There’s too much at stake; we have too much to lose. In regards to how we performed throughout the game, I was pleased with what I saw.”
The balanced scoring attack saw Ben Ferreira with 13 points and Garza with 10, followed by Ben Fletcher with nine, Dalpogetti and Jacob Augusto both with seven, Huebner and Lewis with six points apiece.
Closing out the week on Friday night, Dec. 22, the varsity boys again were back in the win column, taking a 62-46 victory over Calaveras.
“I have a ton of respect for the Calaveras basketball program. In our division, they have been one of the best and most consistent programs for a while now; always a playoff contender. They are extremely well coached and are always well prepared,” Bartelink said. “Going into the game I knew we had a challenge in front of us. We had trouble getting stops in the first quarter as Calaveras was getting quality looks and converting them.”
The visitors took an 18-15 lead in the first quarter but Escalon turned the tables in the second and held a 38-31 advantage at the half.
“Our two captains, Sam Jimenez and Ethan Garza did all the heavy lifting offensively in the first quarter, scoring all 15 of our points; Sam with 11 and Ethan with four,” noted Bartelink. “Trailing by four midway through the second quarter, we went on a 15-2 run to take the lead into halftime. Key to that run was changing up our defense. I give a lot of credit to our guys for taking pride on the defensive end from the second quarter on; allowing Calaveras only 28 total points in the final three quarters, and only 15 points in the second half.”
Escalon outscored the visitors 17-9 in the third and 7-6 in the fourth.
“We were able to force Calaveras into tough shots and held them to one shot opportunity on most possessions. Us being able to control the boards against a program that typically rebounds well was key,” Bartelink said.
With the trio of wins, the varsity improved its record to 10-1.
“This was one of our better defensive performances of the season considering the quality of the opponent. We also did a great job executing offensively and taking care of the ball with only nine turnovers,” the coach added of the Dec. 22 victory. “We had a lot of players play great games; Sam, Ethan, Ben and Logan, to name a few. Ethan was well below 100 percent, playing through an illness, but no one knew the true extent of how he was feeling until after the game. I have a lot of respect for him and his toughness. Some other players may have chosen to not play with what he was feeling. He’s one of our leaders and he understands his importance to our success; he wants to win.”
Jimenez had 20 points, seven rebounds; Garza 14 points, five rebounds and four steals; Fletcher had 12 points and six rebounds, playing really good defense; and Huebner added four points and seven rebounds.
“We also got good minutes from Ryan Lewis, Ryan Murphy, and Frank Richard Barrera, who between the three of them, filled our post position most of the game, and made life difficult for Calaveras’ post player and second leading scorer,” Bartelink said. “Winning ten games prior to Christmas is nice, but we know we haven’t accomplished anything yet. The schedule has started to stiffen up and starting with the Calaveras game, we will have nine straight games against potential playoff teams. These upcoming games will be tremendous tests for us. We will continue to get everyone’s best shot and we need to be ready, and play consistently good basketball.”
JV/Freshmen
For the JV boys, their games included a hard fought 53-51 loss to Central Valley on Dec. 19, then they bounced back to defeat Argonaut by a 54-31 margin. Friday night, Dec. 22 against Calaveras they earned a 73-68 win in overtime. It was a solid victory considering they were down three key players, said coaches. The JV boys ended the week at 5-6 overall.
The freshmen were easy 60-31 winners over Central Valley and toughed out a 34-27 win Wednesday against Argonaut. The last game of the week for the frosh boys was a loss on Friday night, falling 58-48 to Calaveras which left the freshmen at 6-5.
This week, Escalon is hosting the 11th Annual Cougar Christmas Classic; freshmen only this year. The JV and Varsity will be traveling to Oakdale for the Oakdale Rotary Tournament. All three tournaments take place Dec. 27 through Dec. 29.
