For the Escalon Cougar basketball teams, there was plenty of tournament action during the week between Christmas and New Year.
Two teams were in action on the road – as the JV and varsity played in the Oakdale Rotary Tournament – while the freshmen hosted the 12th annual Cougar Christmas Classic. Games in both tourneys ran Thursday, Dec. 26 through Saturday, Dec. 28.
Following is a recap of the action for all squads.
VARSITY
It was a tough opening night for Escalon in the Oakdale Rotary Classic on Dec. 26, as they lost to host Oakdale in the first round, 64-44. The Mustangs had a 31-23 lead at the half and then outscored Escalon 33-21 over the third and fourth quarters.
“Oakdale made an insane 16 three-pointers in the game; 16-for-25 for 64 percent. Those numbers, quantity made and shooting percentage, are almost unheard of at the high school level. We knew they had some good shooters; seven different Oakdale players made a three-pointer in the game,” head coach Nate Bartelink said. “There’s things we could have and should have done better to keep them from getting so many good looks, getting in a rhythm, and becoming confident shooting as a team. With that said, most high school players couldn’t shoot it that well, in an empty gym, with no defenders guarding them. We didn’t have an answer for their long-range shooting.”
The ‘Ryans’ were in double figures for Escalon, paced by 12 points from Ryan Lewis and 11 from Ryan Murphy. Conner Jones added nine points.
Friday’s game in the consolation bracket was closer, but the Cougar varsity squad ultimately lost to Johansen, 63-54. Escalon jumped out quickly and had a 23-14 lead after one but Johansen had a big second quarter and had a 35-32 lead over Escalon at the half. They used a 20-14 run in the third quarter to put the game out of reach.
“The three point shooting barrage by our opponents continued. We had a strong first quarter, but Johansen got hot from behind the arc, making 12-of-20 (60 percent) in the game, nine by one player. We knew that player was a very capable shooter. He was identified and discussed before the game, and during the game. We obviously had a difficult time making someone else take their shots,” Bartelink explained. “It was poor defensive execution, allowing their best shooter to get white hot. We are trading threes for twos too much; something we need to correct. Freshman Jake Ferreira was playing a solid first half and unfortunately went down with an ankle injury late in the second quarter, and missed the rest of the game. We could have used his defensive ability in trying to defend their shooters.”
It was an unusual two-game stretch, the coach noted.
“That was back-to-back games where our opponents made at least 60 percent of their three-point attempts; usually 30 percent at the high school level is pretty good,” he said. “The three-point shot has become a huge weapon in basketball. After having some three-point weapons the last few seasons, we’re now losing that category by a wide margin from game to game.”
Lewis had 14 points to lead Escalon while Logan Huebner had 12 points and eight rebounds. Murphy chipped in with 11 points and seven rebounds and Danny Gonzalez was in double figures as well, with 10 points, to go along with seven rebounds.
“The games that Oakdale and Johansen played following their crazy three-point shooting against us, they each scored 30 points – season lows – against their next opponent. It’s frustrating because it seems for some reason, they got extremely hot against us, and then couldn’t put the ball in the basket the following game,” Bartelink pointed out. “Some of it is our defense needs to be better, but some of it seems to be tough luck.”
Closing out the tournament on Saturday against a former Trans-Valley League foe, Riverbank, the Cougar boys put an easy win on the books. They defeated the Bruins by a 61-23 final. Escalon was in double digit scoring in each quarter; Riverbank hit that mark just once, with a 10-point fourth quarter.
“It was a good game to bounce back from two upsetting losses. Nine of our ten players in uniform scored; all got pretty good playing time,” said the coach. “Our defense was really good in the first half; giving up only five points, on zero made three pointers.”
Huebner poured in 20 points, Murphy had 10 points and was also in double figures for rebounds to record a double-double against Riverbank. Lewis had nine points and Elijah Carr added six in the win.
JUNIOR VARSITY
Making the short trip to Oakdale, the Cougar JV boys opened up with a first-round win on Thursday over the Oakdale JV team, 59-53.
That put them on the winner’s side of the bracket.
In a second-round game on Friday, the JV boys defeated Johansen, getting past the Viking by a 55-31 decision.
Saturday saw the JV boys in the championship game of the tourney, but they were stopped short of bringing home the first-place trophy. They took on Mountain House in the Dec. 28 contest and lost by a lopsided 101-40 final.
“The JV squad ran into a really, really good Mountain House team; they’re a buzz saw. They’ve played a really tough schedule, have only lost a couple games, and score a ton of points against all of their opponents,” Bartelink pointed out of the Mountain House Mustangs. “Our boys should be proud of what they accomplished in this tournament, winning second place, especially considering they were without two of their usual contributors/starters.”
FRESHMEN
Thursday, Dec. 26 was opening day for the Cougar Christmas Classic and the youngest Cougars opened up with a decisive 62-39 victory over Johansen. The frosh boys had a lead at the half and continued to increase it over the third and fourth quarters to put the game away.
In the second round, in the winner’s bracket, the Cougar freshmen fell to Heritage on Friday night, 53-20.
They closed out the tourney on Saturday, taking a loss to Enochs, 43-15.
Teams in the tournament were Enochs, Escalon, Heritage, Johansen, Oakdale, Orestimba, Ripon Christian, Venture Academy.
Heritage defeated Ripon Christian for the tournament title on Saturday.
“Heritage has won this tournament eight or nine times over the 12 years we’ve hosted it,” Bartelink noted.
Ripon Christian was second with Enochs taking third and host Escalon in fourth. Oakdale was the champion in the consolation bracket.
“I’d like to thank all those Escalon parents for their very generous contributions to our freshmen tournament, from working admissions, to the snack bar, keeping the scorebook, or providing for the hospitality room,” Bartelink said. “We are able to annually host and run one of the better holiday tournaments around, in large part to the amazing support from the families in our program, year after year.”
Current records show the varsity boys at 8-5, the JV boys are at 9-4 and the freshmen at 5-8.
This week, all three levels are scheduled to play at Calaveras on Thursday, Jan. 2 and at Golden Valley on Friday, Jan. 3.
“These will be our last couple tune-ups before TVL play gets started on January 8,” said Bartelink.
