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FLYING HIGH
The Ranch rolls to ninth straight winWESTON RANCH — Bill Slikker never sat down — save for the occasional kneel — and his Weston Ranch boys basketball team never stopped running.No pit-stops.No timeouts.And, with its hockey-style substitutions and frenetic style of play, water breaks came on the fly.
“That’s our game,” junior swingman Walter Jackson said nonchalantly.
Behind a stifling full-court press and one acrobatic finish after another, the Cougars rolled to their ninth straight Valley Oak League victory with a highlight-worthy 67-41 win over the visiting Oakdale Mustangs Wednesday.Weston Ranch (18-5 overall, 9-2 VOL) created 23 turnovers, including 13 in the second half alone, and exercised its supreme athleticism against a depleted Oakdale team.
The Mustangs’ leading scorer Fabian Lopez was relegated to street clothes for the fourth straight game and will miss the rest of the season with multiple tendon tears in his right ankle.Bruising 6-foot-7 center Jake Duncan sat out the entire first half and finished with just three points and two blocks in limited action.“We got some guys hurt; we got some guys out and our best scorer wasn’t even on the floor,” Oakdale coach David Antinetti said. “With all that adversity going on, I thought our guys played well.“But Weston Ranch is really athletic.
They go four, five and sometimes six guys deep on their bench. They did a good job of running that press and we didn’t have the best night handling the ball.”The good news continued to pour in for Weston Ranch following the game.Mere minutes after exiting the locker rooms, the Cougars were greeted with surprising news from across Interstate 5: Sierra upset Sonora.The Timberwolves delivered a crushing blow to the season-long leaders Wednesday with a 38-36 win, creating a logjam at the top of the standings with one game to go.Weston Ranch can clinch its first-ever varsity league title — in any sport — with either a win over Sierra on Friday or a Sonora loss to Oakdale in its season finale.“Our goal is still the playoffs.
If Sierra can knock off Sonora, that tells me that they’ll be ready to play on Friday,” said Slikker, whose Cougars are ranked seventh in the latest release of the Sac-Joaquin Section Division III power ratings.“Don’t get me wrong; it’s nice to have that opportunity. Any championship at any level is nice to have. But we want to hit our stride going into playoffs. Today our whole goal was to play four quarters of Cougar basketball. I was pleased with the effort.”Vinny Devencenzi poured in a game-high 15 points and began the flurry with a rare four-point play to start the contest.Devencenzi rolled a 3-pointer in from the wing on Weston Ranch’s first possession and then was toppled to the ground.There was no looking back.
Jackson finished with 10 points and 13 rebounds, and the lanky junior energized a rowdy home crowd with an alley-oop slam midway through the second.Davon Jones (two points, five assists) collected an errant Oakdale pass near midcourt and steered the fast-break possession.Looking off Jackson, who had cut down the endline, Jones lifted a pass just off the rim.Jackson knew what to do next — they had rehearsed it all season.“We’ve been trying to get that going,” Jackson said. “But that’s the first time we’ve hooked up like that.”The Cougars led by as many as 17 twice in the first half before ducking into the break with a 33-21 advantage.Sam Wilson scored all nine of his points in the second half, while sophomores James Nunnally and Mic’ael Thomas (four assists) each finished with seven.
Nunnally opened the fourth with a booming slam that triggered a 7-0 blitz, giving the Cougars a 29-point lead — their largest of the game.“We have to get the game up to our speed,” Slikker said. “We have to get up and down the floor.“The kids are so aggressive right now. They’re absolutely loving it. They make me look like a genius.”Slikker can look like a savior with a win on Friday during the Cougars’ first-ever Senior Night festivities.
A win would solidify the school’s first varsity banner and help dull the sting of a nightmarish 2005 season that saw Weston Ranch finish 1-24.“Every game counts,” Jackson said. “We’re playing with confidence, but we still have to play our game.”Tory Bear paced Oakdale (12-13, 2-9) with seven points, while Nic Reed and Trenton St. John each tallied six.
Junior Varsity
Brian Morris had 16 points and Maurice Haungabook finished with 10 as Weston Ranch (13-11, 6-7) cruised to a 64-30 win over Oakdale.
Every Cougar player scored in the win.
Freshman
Weston Ranch (15-9, 12-1) clinched at least a share of the VOL title Wednesday with a 52-32 win over Oakdale.Jashune Stokes led all players with 17 points, while Derrick Sykes contributed nine to the win.To contact James Burns, e-mail jburns@mantecabulletin.com
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