Gilroy picks up the pace in the second half to romp past NMC
n By Marc David Sports Editor
Gilroy – Seeing was believing for Gilroy.
The scouting report said that if you don’t stay in Reuben Damasco’s face, he’ll make you pay. And that’s just what happened in the first half of the Mustangs’ nonleague matchup with North Monterey County at Bob Hagen memorial Gym.
Once Gilroy shut Damasco down and turned up the defensive pressure, and once it ramped up its intensity and started crashing the boards, the Condors didn’t have a chance. That’s the way it was during the second half when the Mustangs pulled away from North County for a 65-36 win.
GHS (10-5) was so dominant in the second half that it held the Condors to four field goals and had a 41-9 advantage on the boards. In fact, Marshad Johnson, Jason Conrad and Spencer Ford each had as many rebounds in the second half as North County (6-9).
Damasco almost single-handedly kept the Condors close in the first half with 12 of his team-high 14 points.
“We knew he could shoot from anywhere, so we started to trap whenever he got the ball,” Johnson said of Damasco. “We knew if we stopped him we’d be able to control the game. We were a little sluggish in the first half, not playing to our potential.”
They were sluggish enough that coach Bud Ogden got in their ears and told them they had better play with more intensity, or else. There were five lead changes in the first half before the Mustangs scored the last eight points, including Kameron Handy’s long trey to beat the buzzer for a 30-23 halftime advantage.
“That (trey) was huge,” North County coach Jesus Galindo said. “Instead of a four-point game at halftime it was seven. We played hard and hung in. We tried to stack it (inside) and force them to make outside shots. We did a good job with that in the first half. But with their height, they create matchup problems all over. If they had more fire they would blow teams out of the gym.”
Gilroy was dominant in the second half and got solid contributions from its bench, notably Lorenzo Dobson (eight points, eight rebounds), Destry Jones (eight points) and E.J. Harrell (seven points). The Mustangs outscored the Condors 35-13 in the second half.
“The intensity stepped up a lot in the second half,” Ogden said. “There were a few things we decided at halftime and one was that intensity was not going to be an issue. We had some guys who did pretty well off the bench. Dobson is coming along, improving every at day at practice. He is more intense and more focused.”
Senior guard Javin Charlot sat out with a sore back, but Handy picked up the slack at the point with team-highs of 15 points and five assists. Ford, who shot 5-of-7, finished with 10 points and nine rebounds. Meanwhile, Conrad had 15 rebounds and Johnson had 14 for the Mustangs, who controlled the boards by a 61-23 margin.
JV: Gilroy boosted its record to 13-3 by defeating North Monterey County 51-30. Kendrick Azcueta had 14 points and Justin Wheat had 11 points and 10 rebounds for the Mustangs.
North Monterey County (36)-Damasco 14, Topps 2, Gabriel 5, Kilty 6, Renney 0, Deamaral 0, Calcagno 6, Jones 3, Fordham 0. Totals 13 6-9 36.
Gilroy (65)-Siha 3, Handy 15, Martinez 0, Harrell 7, Ford 10, Jones 8, Jensen 2, Johnson 4, Dobson 8, Conrad 8. Totals 25 10-12 65.
NMC 12 11 9 4 – 36
Gilroy 17 13 20 15 – 65
3-point goals: NMC, Damasco 2, Gabriel, Jones. Gilroy-Jones 2, Handy, Harrell.
