Taking the court for a home game prior to the Thanksgiving holiday, Escalon’s boys basketball teams hosted Buhach Colony on Tuesday, Nov. 26.
It was a night where two of three teams got victories, including a 53-40 win for the varsity Cougar boys.
Escalon outscored Buhach Colony in two of the four quarters, said head coach Nate Bartelink, with a 13-10 lead after one, 30-16 at the half. Buhach had just a one-point edge, outscoring Escalon 11-10 in the third quarter and the teams tied, 13-13, in the fourth, giving Escalon the 13-point victory.
“It took us a few minutes to get going, but things opened up a bit in the second quarter. To be expected early in the season and with some inexperienced varsity players, we’re making some mistakes, but our defense was strong in this game, allowing us to maintain a double digit lead throughout the game,” Bartelink said. “We had pretty good offensive contributions with eight players scoring.”
Logan Huebner paced the effort, pouring in 18 points, and accounting for an “insane nine steals,” Bartelink noted.
“He was flying around everywhere. Obviously he’s a great athlete, along with his innate ability to always be around the ball,” said the coach.
Ryan Murphy had 10 points, Ryan Lewis chipped in with eight and Elijah Carr had six points.
For the JV team, it was a 44-32 win, keyed by a solid defensive effort. Top defensive players in the win were K’Oz Castro and Ezra Rameno.
Escalon’s freshmen took a 63-42 loss.
“With it being their first high school game, it took some time for them to adjust to the speed of the game, but once they settled in, they were doing some good things,” said Bartelink.
He said the young squad, with EHS alum Brenden Holmes serving his first year as coach, was able to cut the deficit to single digits in the second half, but just couldn’t quite get over the hump.
Escalon squads were to host Summerville on Dec. 3; then head out on the road for games at Tokay on Dec. 4, Bret Harte on Dec. 6.
Lady Cougars
For the varsity girls, they took on Tokay in a Monday contest, Nov. 25. It went in the books as a 53-40 loss.
“We led early, but by halftime they had taken a seven-point lead and all the momentum,” coach Joseph Dalpogetti said. “We were able to go on some runs in the second half but they always had an answer.”
The coach said Tokay was able to break Escalon’s press easily, something they are not accustomed to.
“That has been our bread and butter for the last three years,” the coach said. “We do have some returners from last year’s historic season including two starters, but this group as a whole has not played much together.”
Returning starters Madi Babasa and Ari Velasco are anchoring the team, with other players also learning how to fill their roles.
“We are confident we will figure it out,” Dalpogetti said.
Velasco led the team with 15 points against Tokay; Babasa was also in double figures with 10 points. Aiden Hohenwarter had eight points and Ayana Cocio put in seven to finish off the scoring.
This week, Escalon’s Lady Cougars will be busy with games in their tournament, the Lions Club-Pete Arellano Memorial Tournament with games Wednesday through Friday.
