Opening up the week with a loss, the Escalon varsity basketball boys came back a couple of nights later to put a decisive win on the books.
They hosted Golden Valley out of Merced on Tuesday, Dec. 9 and had a lead in the fourth quarter but couldn’t hold on, ultimately falling 54-51.
“We didn’t play well for most of the game. We missed several opportunities throughout the game to extend our small lead; missed lay-ups, dropped passes, dropped rebounds. We also had 26 turnovers, which is unacceptable,” said head coach Nate Bartelink.
Escalon took a 14-11 lead after one but trailed 30-23 at the half. They closed the gap to 40-37 after three.
“We went on a 14-2 run early in the fourth quarter to secure a seven-point lead with 2:40 left in the game. Unfortunately for us, we didn’t close out the game well at all,” Bartelink noted. “It was a very disappointing end to the game that we should’ve won. We didn’t score the last 2:40 in the game and only had a couple shot attempts. We turned the ball over in critical moments, which fueled Golden Valley’s transition game. It’s very difficult to defend an opponent’s fast break. That led to Golden Valley’s 10-0 run to end the game. We need to learn from this and be better at closing the game next time we’re in a similar situation.”
The bright spot in the game was senior Ben Ferreira scoring 17 points to lead the Cougars.
“He played very well in his return from his shoulder surgery he had due to an injury he sustained during the football season,” Bartelink explained. “It was great to have him back on the floor. He has been through a lot of injuries the last few years and I’m happy he’s now healthy and can enjoy his senior season.”
Jake Ferreira added 12 points, Conner Jones had seven points and eight rebounds. Logan Huebner chipped in seven points, seven rebounds, while Issac Petalio scored six points.
Thursday, Dec. 11, the varsity squad welcomed Livingston in to the Cougar Dome and used a tremendous 47-16 scoring edge over the second and third quarters to nail down a 76-44 victory.
“Coming into the game, we knew Livingston only had two main offensive threats. We had trouble guarding those particular players from behind the three-point line in the first half,” Bartelink said. “Those two players combined for 26 of Livingston’s 28 (first half) points, 24 of them coming from behind the arc, on eight three-pointers.”
Escalon had a strong offensive first half as well, including 15 first half points from Ben Ferreira.
“We challenged the team at the half to stick to the game plan defensively and they did much better in the second half not giving those two players the same clean looks,” the coach said. “Credit to Ben Ferreira and Jake Ferreira for being the primary defenders on those players, but it was a collective, team effort defensively.”
Ben Ferreira had 21 points on the night, freshman Trevor Jansen had 11 points and Conner Jones put in nine. Also, Logan Huebner had eight points, five rebounds, and five steals; Issac Petalio had eight points; Jake Ferreira added seven points and six assists; Donovan Martinez had seven points and five assists. All players got on the scoresheet during the contest, added the coach.
“With the win, Logan Huebner secured his 61st varsity victory. That broke the program record for varsity wins. During Logan’s four years as a varsity starter, he’s been the ultimate competitor and a winner,” Bartelink said. “He’s had a significant impact on our team success during his time in a Cougar uniform. As good of a player that Logan is, he’s even a better person. He has almost a full season in front of him to add to his record wins.”
With the split this past week, the varsity overall record for the preseason campaign was at 3-3.
The varsity squad was scheduled to play Tuesday, Dec. 16 at River Islands; have home games Thursday, Dec. 18 against Calaveras and Friday, Dec. 19 hosting Central Valley, closing out the busy week with a Saturday game, Dec. 20 at Kimball.
The JV boys also went 1-1 for the week, falling to Golden Valley but beating Livingston. In the win on the home court against the Wolves on Thursday, Dec. 11, Rhodey Trimble had 14 points, Benji Novetzke had 12 and DJ Bass chipped in with nine for the JV squad. The freshmen started off the Thursday night sweep for Escalon against Livingston, winning by a 60-19 final.
