Bud Ogden’s idea to get Gilroy’s attention was to get a
technical foul called against him.
Gilroy – Bud Ogden’s idea to get Gilroy’s attention was to get a technical foul called against him.
The Mustangs’ coach did it too well, drawing two technicals and getting tossed from the game Friday against Salinas.
He wasn’t around to see it, but his ploy worked. After squandering all of a 15-point third quarter lead, Gilroy went back to playing as it had to build the big lead. And the Mustangs used a big two-minute flurry in the fourth quarter to hold off the Cowboys 65-57 in a Tri-County Athletic League game at Bob Hagen Memorial Gym.
“After losing coach, we really pulled together,” said Derek Jensen, who re-discovered his shooting eye at just the right time. “We needed to make a statement not only for ourselves but for coach. He got the technical for us.”
It was as strange a game as the Mustangs (13-6 overall, 3-2 TCAL) have been involved in all season. Gilroy scored the first seven points of the contest and was in control for 23 minutes. The Mustangs led 49-34 on two Marshad Johnson foul shots with 1:16 left in the third quarter.
It took a little over three minutes for Gilroy to give it all back. Whatever Ogden tried didn’t work. So he decided a technical foul was in order. He didn’t count on getting tossed. And the Mustangs got the point.
“We didn’t panic,” said Spencer Ford. “We’ve been there before. It would have been a definite momentum-killer if we had lost. But we know how to pick ourselves up. We’re starting to play more as a team.”
GHS played as a team in the first quarter when it surged ahead 22-9. It maintained a lead of at least 10 points until the fourth quarter.
A 15-point Salinas run drew the teams even at 49 with 5:27 left, 44 seconds after Ogden was ejected. Kameron Handy gave Gilroy the lead with a basket. Joey Vashar’s trey gave the Cowboys (12-9, 2-3) their only lead of the game, 52-51, with five minutes remaining. Vashar led all scorers with 18 points.
Handy responded with a trey to ignite an 11-point run that repelled the Salinas charge. Jensen’s first of two treys 28 seconds after Handy’s big shot loomed just as large.
“We didn’t run our offense very well after we got the lead,” Salinas coach Joe Chappell said. “You’re not supposed to shoot after the first pass. We didn’t take care of the ball. Still, I was proud of the way the guys played. Our guys were mismatched physically.”
The Mustangs were in a position to let a big lead slip away until Handy and Jensen hit their long-range momentum-shifting shots during the 11-point run in a 2:07 span.
“Credit Derek with finding his shot at the right time,” said Ford, who had eight points and eight rebounds. “He picked a perfect time for it.”
“We hung in there and got back to what we did in the first half,” GHS assistant coach Jeremy Dirks said. “This might be a turning point. We need to be aggressive. We know we have to continue to win.”
Handy led the Mustangs with 17 points. Javin Charlot had 11 points and five assists. Jason Conrad had nine points and 12 rebounds.
Sub-varsity: Salinas defeated Gilroy 52-46 in the junior varsity contest, despite 14 points and nine rebounds from Justin Wheat, and 13 points from Jamie Jensen.
The Cowboys also won the freshman tilt, 41-28.
Salinas (57)-Toney 6, Pua 11, Bradley 3, Perry 0, Meza 0, Davis 3, Ostrander 3, Longo 0, Vashar 18, Cerney 8, McKenzie 3, Gubser 2. Totals 20 14-22 57.
Gilroy (65)-Siha 3, Handy 17, Martinez 0, Harrell 2, Ford 8, Charlot 11, Jensen 6, Johnson 2, Dobson 7, Tomasetti 0, Conrad 9. Totals 24 11-17 65.
Salinas 9 13 17 18 – 57
Gilroy 22 15 12 16 – 65
3-point goals: Salinas, Vahar, Bradley, Ostrander; Gilroy, Handy 2, Jensen 2, Charlot, Siha.
