Gilroy outscores opponents by 114 points in the three games
Gilroy – It was racehorse basketball all the way.
Alvarez coach Mark Hadden made no apologies. Gilroy coach Bud Ogden made no proclamations.
But the Mustangs easily stamped themselves as the class of the 27th annual Bob Hagen Memorial Tournament, running away from the Eagles 89-50 in the championship game Saturday.
And the GHS players couldn’t have been happier. It wasn’t just that Gilroy successfully defended its title. It was the run-and-gun style of basketball favored by Alvarez.
“That was a lot of fun,” said GHS senior point guard Javin Charlot, the tournament’s Most Valuable Player. “I enjoy that pace. This was a good tournament for us, a bounce-back tournament.”
It was nothing like the first two tournaments involving the Mustangs, although GHS won the Aptos Seascape Invitational as well as Charlot was MVP. In that tournament, however, the games were close. In their second tournament at Valley Christian, the Mustangs came up empty in two games.
As Charlot pointed out, Gilroy bounced back well in the Hagen tourney despite not having a full team in any of the three games. Spencer Ford missed all three games away on family matters. Jason Conrad missed the first game because of illness and Lorenzo Dobson missed the final with a pulled tendon. And yet, the Mustangs never missed a beat, winning three games by 114 points, or an average victory margin of 38 per game.
“We played really hard,” said Derek Jensen, who like Conrad had a doiuble-double in the final and joined the junior center on the all-tournament team. “We were missing guys, but everyone stepped up no matter what position they played. We had some big wins in a row and it should give us momentum.”
Gilroy (7-4) led from start to finish as it halted Alvarez’s six-game win streak. Conrad, who had 17 points and 18 rebounds, had two baskets in a 10-pouint run that pushed the Mustangs in front 15-4 midway through the first quarter.
A trey by Harvey Todd, who led all scorers with 22 points, brought the Eagles (6-2) within 19-11 at the end of the first quarter. But Kameron Handy and Marshad Johnson keyed a 10-point run to open the second quarter, and Alvarez got no closer than 14.
However, the Eagles continued to push the pace, and Hadden wasn’t about to second-guess himself. After all, Alvarez entered the game averaging better than 78 points.
“That’s the way we play,” said Hadden, the first-year coach who has resurrected a program that had a total of eight wins in the previous five seasons. “Hey, Gilroy is going to beat a lot of teams. They’re a great team. We have a long ways to go. We need to get back better defensively.”
If there was any questions whether the Mustangs would be content with a 42-26 halftime advantage, they were answered during Gilroy’s best offensive quarter of the season. Shooting a scintillating 14-of-18 from the field, the Mustangs scored 31 points.
“We got a lot of playing time for a lot of kids,” Ogden said. “We had good teamwork and hopefully gained a lot of confidence.”
Five GHS players were in double figures. Charlot led with 19 points, and he also had five assists and four steals. Handy was 6-of-7 from the field (the team was 37 of 70) and scored 15 points. Johnson had 15 points, seven rebounds and four blocked shots. Jensen had 12 points, 11 rebounds and five assists.
Consolation: Harbor took advantage of cold Live Oak shooting to take third place, downing the Acorns 36-25. Daniel Vahradian had 14 points for the Pirates.
JV tourney: Gilroy fell behind by 10 points in the first quarter and was unable to overcome the deficit, falling 52-48 to Aptos in the championship game.
Stephen Galtman, Jamie Jensen and Kendrick Azcueta all had 12 points for the Mustangs (7-2), who were able to close within two in the final quarter with possession of the ball, but were unable to get the lead. Galtman, who made the all-tournament team, had 16 rebounds.
JV All-tournament team: Stephen Galtman, Gilroy; Chris Grides, Aptos; Zeke Sanders, Santa Cruz; Cooper Kursey, Harbor; Juan Rafino, Alvarez. MVP-Patrick McCreesh, Aptos.
Alvarez (50)-Rubio 2, VanSchuyver 3, Smith 8, Rodzach 2, Rodriguez 0, Fisher 0, Adenuga 0, Baker 9, Todd 22, Lopez 4. Totals 19 8-14 50.
Gilroy (89)-Siha 3, Handy 15, Martinez 2, Harrell 4, Charlot 19, Jensen 12, Johnson 15, Jones 2, Conrad 17. Totals 37 12-17 89.
3-point goals: Alv-Todd 2, Smith, VanSchuyver. Gil-Charlot, Siha, Conrad.
All-Tournament Team
Jason Conrad and Derek Jensen, Gilroy; Harvey Todd and Matt Baker, Alvarez; Dan Vahradian, Harbor; Andrew Biancardi, Aptos. MVP-Javin Charlot, Gilroy.
