In a unique and memorable night at the Cougar Dome on Tuesday, Feb. 4, six Escalon High School seniors – and their families – were recognized for their efforts on behalf of the boys basketball program at EHS.
“It was great to be able to honor our six seniors and their families for all of their accomplishments and contributions to the program the last four years. This group was part of the team that won our program’s first playoff game in 10 years. They’ll be leaving our program better than they found it and that’s all you can ask of a graduating class,” said head coach Nate Bartelink. “In normal senior night fashion, we started all seniors.”
With six seniors on the roster, starters for the evening were Ryan Lewis, Ryan Murphy, Jacob Augusto, Daniel Gonzalez and Trenton Epps.
“As most people familiar with Escalon athletics know, star senior student-athlete Sam Jimenez has been sidelined through the football and basketball seasons due to the severe knee injury he sustained in July. It goes without saying, but we have missed his presence on the court significantly,” Bartelink pointed out. “Even though Sam hasn’t been able to be on the court this season, he has helped us in many ways; has been a captain for us, a great leader and the ultimate teammate, showing up to every practice and game. With his eyes, ears and voice, he’s basically served as another coach on our staff.”
Also, Bartelink noted, his family still even attends most games in support of EHS basketball.
“Given how much Sam means to our program, we wanted to honor him; to find a way to get him on the court one more time, even for just a short time. Since he’s not fully cleared for contact yet, we wanted to give him one possession, and one shot opportunity. After some discussion in the week leading up to the game, we decided on a plan,” the coach explained. “On a dead ball in the second quarter we inserted him into the game, called a baseline out of bounds play for him to get a three-point attempt, and in true Sam fashion, he drilled it. It was a storybook moment; I couldn’t have imagined it going any better than it did. It wasn’t necessarily planned this way, but the four other players on the court with him also happened to be some of Sam’s best friends. After his made three-pointer, we immediately fouled and took Sam out of the game so his family, friends, fans, and teammates could celebrate his great moment. It was pretty emotional.”
Escalon would go on to win the game against the visiting Hughson Huskies by a 74-51 final but the real story of the contest was in that three-point shot hitting nothing but net and the crowd erupting, recognizing the significance of the play.
“I’ve been coaching 23 years and that is the single best moment I’ve been a part of. It’s something that I’ll never forget. I’m grateful to Hughson for being on board; very classy of them,” Bartelink shared. “Trying to script that opportunity for Sam is one thing, but him actually making the shot is another. It’s a great example of the type of athlete Sam has been during his time wearing the purple and gold, and a reminder of what everyone was robbed of this year. He’s an elite athlete; a competitor, a winner, and he always rises to the occasion. I’m so excited for him to be back on the football field next fall.”
Escalon had a 21-14 lead after one, extending it to 42-24 at the half on the way to the league win. All six seniors on the roster scored on Senior Night, paced by 11 points and six rebounds from Ryan Lewis; seven points, four rebounds and three blocks from Ryan Murphy; five points from Jacob Augusto. Daniel Gonzalez had four points and pulled down seven rebounds; Trenton Epps had four points and Sam Jimenez had three points.
Junior Ben Ferreira added 25 points, with seven made three-pointers, both career highs.
“It was great to see him have such a good shooting night. His shots in recent practices and games have been looking good. He was due for a night like this,” Bartelink said.
Fellow junior Logan Huebner also filled up the stat sheet, with eight points, five rebounds, five assists and four steals against Hughson.
Friday at Ripon Christian, the varsity boys battled to a 47-44 loss, just falling short to the league-leading Knights. Trailing 9-8 after one, Escalon had a strong second quarter to take a 23-16 lead at the half. RC, however, answered back with a 20-9 run in the third and held off Escalon down the stretch to seal the win on Feb. 7.
“The players were locked in from the tip; we played with the appropriate energy and effort, leading to a pretty strong first half, where we led by seven points. Our defense was strong. But as with much of the season, against the good teams, we had trouble putting together four solid quarters,” Bartelink said. “We had trouble generating any sustainable offense in the second half. Our defense kept us in the game in the second half, but unfortunately we couldn’t score. It’s a tough match-up for us.”
The coach said the team also had a “handful of critical turnovers late in the game” that hurt them.
“We also had a few mental errors in important moments. When scoring is at a premium, you can’t waste possessions with careless turnovers and mental breakdowns. Close games are won and lost in the margins. Those are areas we need to be better at with the playoffs approaching,” Bartelink said.
Huebner had 12 points, five rebounds, three assists and three steals; freshman Jake Ferreira had seven points and Ben Ferreira had five.
“Ryan Lewis had 12 points and six rebounds; he’s been battling an illness for over a week. I give him a lot of credit for battling through it and being there for his teammates,” added Bartelink.
The varsity ended the week at 15-11 overall, 5-5 in league play.
JV/Freshmen
It was a win for both the JV and freshman teams at home on Feb. 4. The JV boys were 60-40 winners over Hughson and the frosh squad put a lopsided 54-21 victory on the books against the visiting Huskies.
Friday, on the road at Ripon Christian, both teams took a loss. It was the first loss in TVL play for the JV boys, as they fell to the Knights by a 61-44 final. That left each team with a 9-1 league record, tied for first place. The JV Cougar boys are 19-7 overall.
The freshmen also lost, by a 53-28 margin, to RC. Currently, the freshmen are 14-12 overall and are at 7-3 in TVL play.
“It’s the last week of the regular season. Winning both games will put us in the best position possible for playoff seeding, which is announced on Saturday, Feb. 15,” Bartelink said of looking to close out the league campaign with a couple of varsity victories.
“We host second place Ripon on Wednesday (Feb. 12), where we’ll be celebrating the 20-year anniversary of our program’s last CIF SJS section title,” Bartelink said. “We’ll be honoring all of the players and coaches prior to the varsity warm-ups. Friday, we close out the regular season at Orestimba.”
