A fast and furious start to Saturday’s championship game in the
28th annual Bob Hagen Memorial Tournament had Gilroy’s boys
basketball team looking like it was going to win an easy one. But
some excellent outside shooting by the North Monterey County
Condors allowed the visitors to get back in the game and take a
10-point lead going into the fourth quarter, which was enough to
hold off the Mustangs for a 57-47 victory.
A fast and furious start to Saturday’s championship game in the 28th annual Bob Hagen Memorial Tournament had Gilroy’s boys basketball team looking like it was going to win an easy one. But some excellent outside shooting by the North Monterey County Condors allowed the visitors to get back in the game and take a 10-point lead going into the fourth quarter, which was enough to hold off the Mustangs for a 57-47 victory.
NMC guard Reuben Demasco had a game-high 17 points to capture the tournament’s MVP award.
“I think it was their guards were making their shots and we weren’t making ours,” GHS forward Lorenzo Dobson said. “We were trying to trade buckets, but shots weren’t falling.”
Leading 18-6 to end the first quarter, the Mustangs’ shots were falling and the team was rebounding well if the iron was unkind. By halftime, though, the trend had been reversed as Demasco and Michael Kim (13 points) both started to heat up from the perimeter, cutting Gilroy’s lead to one, 29-28.
NMC forward Roger Jones pitched in 13 points for the Condors as well.
Derek Jensen led Gilroy with 14 points to go with six rebounds, and was named to the All-Tournament team. Elijah Harrell and Dobson each had eight points for the Mustangs with Dobson collecting a game-high 13 rebounds. Gilroy’s Kendrick Azcueta and Tyler Hartman each had six points and six rebounds and Jacob Dexter had three points. Justin Wheat rounded out all GHS scorers with two points to go with five rebounds.
The Mustangs cut the lead several times and got as close as seven, 50-43, with just minutes remaining, but each time Gilroy was about to close the gap the Condors seemed to make a timely bucket.
With the win NMC improved to 7-3 while GHS is now 5-4.
The Mustangs’ next contest will be at home tonight at 7 p.m. against Carmel.
Junior varsity:
Gilroy’s junior varsity basketball team was able to win the Bob Hagen Memorial Tournament Saturday, defeating Aptos 53-52.
Bryan Sanchez led the Mustangs with 12 points, with Gilroy’s Max Fishler chipping in 10 of his own. Other Mustangs filling the stat sheet were Michael Hartman and Raul Quintanar, who each had nine points, and Neill Azcueta, who finished the contest with nine assist and no turnovers.
Azcueta was given the tournament’s MVP award and Hartman and Quintanar were both named to the All-Tournament team.
“We played three really good games,” GHS coach Jay Baksa said. “The last game with Aptos seems to be a traditional thing.”
Gilroy and Aptos have met in the tournament’s championship game the last several years.
The Mustangs got to the finals by beating Pajaro Valley 55-39 in the opening round and then Harbor 60-29 in the semifinals. Dolopo Opre led the team with double-figures rebounding in both of those games.
“The kids played real well and hard because we’re not real tall,” Baksa said. “We had to make up for it in other ways with high-tempo and pressure.”
The JV team will play Carmel today at 5:30 p.m. in Gilroy, following the freshman team’s contest at 4 p.m.
