Gilroy turned a 10-point lead into a 17-4 run over the final six
minutes of the final period to close out the victory.
A sizable crowd gathered inside the gym at Christopher High on Tuesday night to watch the first meeting between the town’s rival varsity basketball teams.
The buzz lasted throughout the contest – and rightly so.
Christopher High narrowed a 16-point deficit to just eight entering the fourth quarter, but a relentless Gilroy High club ran away with the issue in the final period for a 71-48 victory.
“You end up with a good win but it’s about getting better every game,” GHS head coach Matt Tait said. “You can win by 30 and not play well. And I don’t think we played particularly great tonight, in stretches.”
Mustangs’ guard Cameron Yawary posted 10 points in the first and fourth quarters, finishing with a game-high 27 points.
“We have new plays, a new mentality, and we are all adapting to it and starting to get wins,” Yawary said.
Nick Cordova collected a team-high 15 points for the Cougars, 12 coming in the first half.
Cordova and Yawary exchanged shot for shot in the opening minutes of the first, countering each others’ made buckets, including a Cordova 3-pointer following a Yawary lay-in to keep the Cougars close at 8-6. A Cameron Harrell trey pushed GHS up five, but Cordova drained a mid-range jumper to close the gap once more.
However, Gilroy used an 11-2 burst to stake out to a 24-10 first-quarter lead and kept the pedal to the metal in racing to a 37-21 halftime advantage.
“The kids told me what they thought was and wasn’t working,” CHS head coach Kaden Bahner said. “We needed penetration to the basket. And at the beginning of the second half we forced their big guys to play more defense instead of us shooting the ball from outside.”
Christopher, turned inside to freshman center Takoda Bowers and junior point guard DJ Campos to stay within striking distance in the third.
“We adjusted on defense and kept fighting back,” Cordova said “We were moving the ball really good and cutting hard (to the hoop). We are working hard and playing as a team even though we are small for varsity.”
And for the eight-minute quarter, the adjustment worked. Bowers scored eight points and Campos six as the Cougars trailed by a manageable eight points.
“Christopher did a great job of breaking us down on penetration,” Tait said. “And in the fourth I said, ‘no more traps, just keep the guy in front of you.’ And then (CHS) kinda had trouble scoring and it opened up again.”
Strategically using his bountiful resources of 16 players, Tait continuously shuffled his five on the floor and received contributions up and down the lineup.
“I need them all to be able to play and now’s the time for them to be getting used to being in,” Tait said.
Five different Mustangs scored in the final period, and coupled with a heightened defensive awareness, GHS rolled to the buzzer and the win.
“We had a lot of trouble with the half-court pressure,” Bahner said. “I honestly think we had the ability to break it, but for us, I think it was a matter of poise.”
The Cougars (2-2) jump right back on the court tonight at the Los Gatos Wildcats Tournament, taking on the host team at 7 p.m. The tourney runs today through Friday.
The Mustangs (3-1) make their home debut against North Monterey County on Thursday. Game time is 7 p.m.
Score by quarter:
GHS – 24 13 11 23 – 71
CHS – 10 11 19 8 – 48
Leading Scorers:
GHS
Cameron Yawary, 27
Chima Ikeme, 12
Steven Hebert, 5
Ryan Valentio-Pickett, 5
Dylan Jensen, 5
Cameron Harrell, 10
CHS
Nick Cordova, 15
Takoda Bowers, 12
DJ Campos, 9
Wyatt Rocheleau, 8
Junior Varsity
Brandan Holler paced the Gilroy High junior varsity squad with 13 points and six rebounds in a Mustangs’ 55-39 win over Christopher on Tuesday night.
Greg Spellman had 12 points and David Gonzalez scored six in the victory.
