TRACY—Sharing was caring for the Weston Ranch High boys basketball team in Tuesday’s Tracy Winter Holiday Classic opener, and it was sharing that sent the Cougars flying into the winner’s bracket.
James Nunnally, Walter Jackson and Jerrell Walker took turns taking over in a 70-50 blowout of Kennedy at Tracy High’s Swenson Gym.“We just work as a team,” Jackson said. “We know that when somebody is hot, we’re going to feed him the ball.”The 6-foot-5 Nunnally was the one in flames in the first half when he scored all 16 of his points, including a one-handed tomahawk dunk on a fastbreak early in the second quarter. He also had six rebounds, three assists and two blocks.
After a shaky second quarter, the Cougars looked to get things back on track to open the third, doing so with a nice alley-oop feed from Nunnally to Jackson for a slam. Jackson dropped in nine of his 13 in the third, also ending up with nine boards.In the fourth, Walker, a 6-6 center, was the centerpiece of a 13-2 flurry, accounting for 10 of those points, that put the Cougars of Sacramento away for good.
Walker finished with a game-high 20 points and pulled down eight rebounds.Reserve guard Brandon Silva was all over the hardwood, as he turned in five points, seven rebounds, six assists and four steals.
Coming off the prestigious Maldonado Memorial Classic in Reno, Nev., where tall and highly-skilled athletes were the norm, Walker had no trouble making the adjustment Tuesday.“Those guys were like 6-8, 6-9 — just huge,” Walker said of his previous defensive assignments. “Here, it seems a bit easier, but not by much (Tuesday). They played us hard.”Weston Ranch (3-3) was brilliant in spurts, especially in the start when it fired in the game’s first 11 points just 3 minutes, 50 seconds into the first.“I thought the game was lost in the first four minutes,” Kennedy coach Al Seyford said. “I thought they came out playing real hard, and I thought we were very timid.“We made a little run, and they adjusted. Quite frankly, they’re just a lot better than us.”
Weston Ranch coach Bill Slikker, though, wasn’t 100 percent pleased.With a 20-8 lead in hand heading into the first, Weston Ranch got sloppy.Kennedy was able to stay within striking distance by taking it more aggressively to the hoop for easy buckets and trips to the free-throw line.Weston Ranch turned it over seven times in the second quarter, finishing with 18 total.The margin remained the same going into halftime at 36-24, but Slikker felt that his team missed out on a chance to completely blow it open.“We could have looked a lot better,” Slikker said. “We jumped out to an early lead, and all of the sudden — after coming back from that tournament (in Reno) — they were like, ‘This is kind of easy.’“They started to play a little selfishly. It took about a quarter to get that out of them.
They started passing better, recognizing where the mismatch was and the mismatch was inside to Jerrell. That really opened it up for us.”Kennedy 6-4 wingman Justin James and Deandre Bradstreet kept the Cougars in it with their athleticism and intensity.James had 14 points, nine rebounds and two blocks; while Bradstreet contributed 13 points, 13 boards and six steals.“
Weston Ranch is very athletic, and I think their length really bothered us,” Seyford said. “That was a huge advantage there.”Tonight’s marquee tournament matchup will be between Weston Ranch and Modesto Metro Conference power Modesto High (7-1) at 6 back at Swenson Gym.“We got a tough draw, but I’ll tell you what, the kids are up the task,” Slikker said. “We played them over the summer at (Modesto Junior College) and lost by one point. There’s no better motivation than something like that.”By JONAMAR JACINTO
http://www.mantecabulletin.com/articles/2006/12/20/sports/sports5.txt
Weston Ranch bests Kennedy; Modesto advances
Tracy Press/Press staff reports Wednesday, 20 December 2006
At Tracy High, Weston Ranch (3-3) used double-digit outbursts from James Nunnally and Jerrell Walker to rout Kennedy (2-4).
The Cougars advance to the winner’s bracket, where they will face 2005 champion Modesto at 6 p.m.
Nunnally scored all 16 of his points in the first half, dropping in 10 in the second quarter to keep Kennedy at bay after the Cougars opened up a 20-8 first-quarter lead. Weston Ranch led 36-24 at halftime.
Walker led all scorers with 20, scoring 11 in the fourth to increase the Cougars’ final lead to 20. Walter Jackson added 13 points.
Senior Deandre Bradstreet led the Sacramento Cougars with 13 points, and Justin James added 11. All of senior C.J. Brown’s seven points came in the second quarter, when Kennedy matched Weston Ranch in scoring 16 to 16.
Kennedy will play Franklin, 69-51, losers to the Panthers, at 3 p.m. today.
http://tracypress.com/content/view/6433/2/
Weston Ranch 70,
Kennedy-Sacramento 50
TRACY — Jerrell Walker muscled in 12 points in the fourth quarter and led Weston Ranch with 20 points in the opening-round victory.
"We really turned it on in the second half," Walker said. "Those were some good passes that got inside, and I was able to put it up."
Michael Nunnally (16 points) scored six points for Weston Ranch (3-3) while it jumped out to a 14-2 first-quarter lead. Mic'eal Thomas and Vinnie Devencenzi added five points each for Weston Ranch in the opening frame.
"Weston Ranch was a very athletic team, and their length really bothered us," Kennedy coach Al Seyford said. "They were able to get in the passing lanes, back us in and get a good look.
"I thought the game was lost in the first four minutes. They came out and jumped on us quick, and that was pretty much it.
Walter Jackson (13 points) of Weston Ranch led all rebounders with 11 and teammate Brandon Silva dished out seven assists, with four going to Walker in the final period.
Jackson brought the crowd to its feet when he took an Alley Oop pass from Nunnally and slammed a dunk for the first points of the second half.
"It took us a whole quarter to get our selfish play out of the way," Weston Ranch coach Bill Slikker said. "We started passing and recognized that our mismatch was inside with Jerrell (Walker). Then we started getting him some looks, and that opened it up for us.
"Walker had a tough tournament in Reno last week, and that helped him here. He took a beating up there."
Deandre Bradstreet led Kennedy (2-4) with 13 points and 10 rebounds. Teammate Justin James chipped in nine points.
http://www.insidebayarea.com/prepsports/ci_4871500
posted by aliciacya @ 1:06 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home