Escalon’s boys basketball teams were on the road for Thursday and Friday games this past week, and all three levels won one and lost one. They traveled to Calaveras for a Thursday, Jan. 2 game and were at Golden Valley in Merced for Friday action, Jan. 3.
VARSITY
It was a hard-fought contest, ending with a one-point win, 46-45, for the Escalon varsity boys on Thursday, Jan. 2 in a trip to Calaveras to face the Red Hawks.
Trailing 13-12 after the first quarter, Escalon came back with a strong second quarter effort, taking a halftime 24-19 lead. Calaveras returned the favor and got hot in the third, outscoring Escalon’s varsity 15-8. The Cougars were just a few points better in the final frame, 14-11, to seal the win.
“I respect the Calaveras program and their coaching staff a ton. They are always tough to play against as they are always well prepared,” said Escalon varsity head coach Nate Bartelink. “We struggled shooting in this game, missing several makeable shots around the rim. They then exclusively played zone in the second half, which was a challenge for us. Luckily for us, freshman Jake Ferreira had his coming out party offensively. He made some very timely three-point shots throughout the game; four total three pointers. His ability to knock down shots is important for us. He’s one of, if not the best shooter in our program.”
Ferreira paced the team with his 14 total points, a varsity career high. Putting in 10 points while playing only in the second half was Ryan Lewis, while Ryan Murphy added nine points and eight rebounds; Logan Huebner had eight points and eight rebounds on the night.
“We were fortunate to get a stop on the last possession of the game; a deflection by Jake Ferreira and Logan Huebner diving on the floor to secure the loose ball,” Bartelink noted. “We’ll take wins any way we can get them, especially against good programs on the road, but we weren’t thrilled with how we played offensively.”
A quick turnaround, then the varsity squad was back on the court for a Friday night game, Jan. 3 at Golden Valley in Merced. In a battle of Cougar teams, it was the host squad taking the win, as Golden Valley defeated Escalon, 55-50.
It was a solid start for Escalon, taking an 18-13 lead after one, 28-25 at the half. Golden Valley had the scoring edge, 14-13, in the third quarter and then put the game away with a 16-9 run over the final eight minutes.
“Golden Valley is a good team with some players that required our full defensive attention. Their size and athleticism provided some challenges. We started out playing really well; a ton of energy,” said Bartelink. “We maintained a small lead through the first three quarters, but unfortunately weren’t able to hold on in the fourth quarter. Our defensive rebounding was poor throughout the game; it let us down in key moments in the fourth quarter.”
Lewis had a double-double for Escalon, 19 points and 14 rebounds, while Huebner had 15 points and six rebounds. Murphy chipped in with seven points and six rebounds, Daniel Gonzalez added five points on the night for Escalon.
And despite taking the loss, Bartelink said his team had its chances.
“With a couple minutes remaining and us trailing by three, Golden Valley missed a shot, but unfortunately, we weren’t able to secure the board. They immediately kicked it out to their best shooter and he drilled a three to extend the lead to six,” the coach said. “After that, we weren’t able to get any closer than five points when we made a shot just before the buzzer sounded. The players gave great effort throughout the game; expending the effort they did may have brought on fatigue, lessening what we had left in the tank in the fourth quarter.”
The split of road games left the varsity with a 9-6 preseason record.
“We need to be better at closing out games. We’ve had several coinflip games this season. We’re winning just over half of them,” explained Bartelink. “We need to perform better during critical moments if we’re going to reach our full potential as a team.”
The Cougars were ranked No. 9 in the most recent CIF SJS Division IV rankings.
JUNIOR VARSITY
The JV boys, under head coach Dave Anderson, started the week with a win, taking down Calaveras by a 49-42 margin. Coming off the seven-point victory, they fell the next night, losing to the Golden Valley team by 10, 62-52. It has been a successful preseason for the JV boys, however, as they have put together a 10-5 mark.
FRESHMEN
The margin of victory was 12 points for the youngest Cougars on Thursday, as they defeated Calaveras by a 42-30 final on Jan. 2. They had a harder time with Golden Valley the next night, as they fell to the host squad by a 51-31 final. The freshmen are under the leadership of first year head coach Brenden Holmes and are 6-9 through their first 15 contests.
“Trans-Valley League play opens up this week as we host TVL newcomer Sonora on Wednesday,” Bartelink said of the Jan. 8 league opener. “Sonora is a highly respected program in our area. They are perennially a playoff team in our division and we will have to play very well to beat them.”
Freshmen kick off the TVL opener at 4 p.m. Wednesday, followed by JV at 5:30 p.m. and varsity at 7 p.m.
The freshmen will be home on Thursday, Jan. 9 to host Hilmar in a 6:30 p.m. game, after the JV basketball girls take the court against Hilmar at 5 p.m.
Escalon’s JV and varsity boys will then be at Hilmar on Friday, Jan. 10; the JV plays at 4 p.m., with the varsity girls taking the court at 5:30 p.m. and the varsity boys at 7 p.m.
All three Cougar boys teams will be home on Saturday, Jan. 11 for the last non-league tripleheader of the season as they host Bradshaw Christian from Sacramento. Game times are freshmen 2 p.m.; JV 3:30 p.m.; varsity 5 p.m.
