Walter's Basketball Showdown

FLYIN’ HIGH
Cougars erase early14-point deficit to winWESTON RANCH—After its seven-game Valley Oak League winning streak was snapped, the last thing the Weston Ranch High boys basketball team needed was for another streak of the losing variety to start.Down 14 points to preseason favorite Ceres in the second quarter Wednesday, it was looking as if the Cougars were going to play themselves out of the title chase.So coach Bill Slikker had a positive, heart-felt speech prepped for halftime.“I chewed them out,” Slikker said.And they responded.

The Cougars, after putting through six unanswered points to end the second quarter, stretched the run to 10-0 and 24-7 in the third.In the end, Walter Jackson pulled down a big defensive rebound off a missed one-and-one free throw and calmly sank two of his own from the stripe with 1.5 seconds to go to seal an important 66-61 victory.Weston Ranch (7-2, 17-6 overall) now shares the second-place spot with the Bulldogs (7-2, 18-4), with Sierra (8-1, 13-8) holding down the top spot following the Timberwolves’ 50-33 win at Central Valley.“It was a must-win game,” Slikker said. “If we lose this, we go down two games to them and we have to rely on other people. At home, you have to win games.”Weston Ranch had several chances to clinch the victory earlier but shot 6-for-14 from the free-throw line.

Heralded junior James Nunnally twice missed the front end of one-and-one free throws with under 25 seconds to go and the Cougars ahead by three.Ceres called a timeout after Nunnally’s second miss and had 6.7 seconds to hit a 3-pointer and send it into overtime.As soon as the ball was inbounded, Nunnally fouled Brett Sayad, who was off the mark on his first one-and-one attempt.“There was no way we were going to let them get off a three and tie it,” Slikker said. “That would be a momentum killer. We weren’t going to take our chances.”As for the early deficit, it was a situation the Cougars have faced before.Jackson highlighted the 45-second, 6-0 spurt at the end of the third quarter with a showtime dunk off a fastbreak feed from Nunnally.

Jerrell Walker tossed in a pair of free throws with 3:02 remaining in the third to give Weston Ranch its first lead (42-41) since it was ahead 3-2 within the first two minutes of the contest.“We’re used to it, but we don’t like being down by 14 points and have to come back,” Nunnally said. “We’d rather finish off teams early and cruise. But if we have to play a tough, physical game, we’ll do that. We’re ready for that.“That was definitely one of the better (stretches) that we’ve played,” he added. “Everybody was playing together and contributing.”Nunnally led the undermanned Cougars with 21 points, 14 rebounds and seven assists.Jackson had 17 points and nine boards, while Walker contributed 15 points despite battling the flu all week.Brandon Silva was back in action after he went down with a high-ankle sprain Jan. 24 against Oakdale.Weston Ranch is down in numbers after one player quit, two got suspended and key role player Khiry Thomas injured his wrist earlier in the season.Freshman post Ronnie Collins was called up from the sophomore team this week and made his varsity debut Wednesday.“We are beat up right now,” Slikker said. “Brandon battled. His ankle is bad. Jerrell was in question also, because he has a real bad flu.“Jerrell really stepped it up. He was a beast inside for us in that third quarter.”Walker went toe to toe with Ceres’ gigantic frontcourt trio of Kevin Dupree, Steven Downs and Sayad and poured in eight of his 15 in the third quarter alone.“We knew that they’d keep coming at us, no matter if they’re down by 10 or 14,” Ceres coach Jason Martin said. “They run and attack the basket real well, and I thought that we gave up way too many points in the paint in the second half.“They were just a little more physical than we were. (Walker) really hurt us inside. They did a good job of pounding it into the paint and getting good looks. That was the difference.”Ray Green had 15 points and 10 rebounds to pace Ceres. Sayad also had 15 points to go with six boards, while Dupree ended up with eight and nine.Shooting guard Ross Tate finished with 12 points before fouling out of the contest with 22.8 seconds left in the game.Weston Ranch’s defense of its 2006 co-championship continues Friday at Oakdale Friday.

http://www.mantecabulletin.com/articles/2007/02/01/sports/sports1.txt

Cougars avenge VOL loss to Ceres
By Dave Campbell, CORRESPONDENT
Article Last Updated: 02/01/2007 02:34:12 AM PST
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STOCKTON — It was the play of the game.
With 2:10 left in the game Wednesday night, and his Weston Ranch High Cougars clinging to a 64-59 lead, Vinnie Devencenzi extended his 6-foot frame and secured a long rebound on a Ceres miss. As he was being knocked to the floor, Devencenzi alertly called timeout, and Weston Ranch held on for a 66-61 win in the Valley Oak League.
The Cougars avenged a loss to Ceres earlier in the season.
"I knew that I had to get position on them," Devencenzi said. "The rebound was very important to us, and we needed the ball back.
"At first when I went down, I thought she was going to call traveling on me, but I looked to my right and did not hear a whistle, so I called timeout."
With 1.5 seconds left, the Cougars' Walter Jackson (13 points) secured a rebound and made two free throws to make the final score 66-61.
"Honestly for us this was a must-win game," Weston Ranch coach Bill Slikker said. "If we had lost this one we would have gone down two games to them and would have had to rely on help from others.
"At home you have to win the tough games, just like they did against us at their place."
With 2:30 left in the third quarter, James Nunnally (23 points) capped a 20-8 run to start the half and make the Cougars' lead 46-42 on a short field goal.
"Halftime was a gut check for us," Slikker said. "The kids dug deep and came out aggressive and turned it up another notch, and they didn't quite match it."
The win puts the Cougars at 18-8 overall and 7-2 in league and Ceres drops to 18-4, 7-2.
http://www.insidebayarea.com/prepsports/ci_5132911

posted by aliciacya @ 2:08 PM