Gilroy
– Not even the return Friday of Gavilan big man Eric Van Vliet
could help the Rams overcome West Valley.
Gilroy – Not even the return Friday of Gavilan big man Eric Van Vliet could help the Rams overcome West Valley.
The 90-58 loss to the Vikings was Gavilan’s worst loss of the season.
Van Vliet scored 14 points for the Rams, but his return to the lineup after missing several weeks with a facial injury in proved to be a nonfactor for the Rams.
“We were all missing easy shots, myself included,” Van Vliet said. “They played a real uptempo game with a lot of traps. We didn’t play with the poise and confidence we needed.”
West Valley ( 20-5, 5-1 conf.) used a fullcourt press to deny Gavilan’s 7-0 freshman the ball in the paint. When the Rams did break the press, they weren’t able to get set up in their offense and had to settle for many quick shots.
The Rams (5-15, 1-4 conf.) had few highlights in a game where they gave up a season high in points. A dunk by Van Vliet in the first half and an alley-oop dunk from Ryan Blake to Jessie LoBue in the second got the crowd into it.
LoBue, the game’s leading scorer with 23 points, had the Rams’ only 3-pointer in the game. Gilroy product Blair Wortham added eight points.
West Valley, on the other hand, hit from outside the arch all night. Nick Alexander, who led the Vikings with 18 points, hit five of West Valley’s seven treys in the first half. West Valley had 12 in the game.
The Vikings held a 50-22 lead at the half.
The Rams will be at De Anza on Wednesday before returning home on Friday to face San Jose City College.
