Chieftains hand Mustangs their first TCAL season loss
Salinas – There would be no celebrating a Tri-County Athletic League title for Gilroy on Palma’s court.
The Chieftains made sure of that by raining – literally – on Gilroy’s parade Wednesday night.
Palma drained 11 three-pointers, helping lift the Chieftains to an 80-62 win over Gilroy, ending the Mustangs’ undefeated run in TCAL and a 13-game winning streak.
Gilroy fell to 17-7 overall and 8-1 in TCAL with three games remaining. Palma (17-5 overall) sits in second place with a 6-3 record ahead of San Benito (6-4).
Senior forward Ryan Chisolm led Gilroy with a double-double of 19 points and 14 rebounds. Junior forward Kameron Handy (13 points) and sophomore forward Jason Conrad (10 rebounds, 3 blocks) were also bright spots for the Mustangs.
In uncharacteristic fashion, Gilroy never held the lead and were forced to play catch-up for most of the night.
“I don’t really have a whole lot to say about that one,” said Gilroy head coach Bud Ogden. “We didn’t defend like we needed to, we let them shoot threes. We just weren’t in it.”
Beyond the arc, the Chieftains often made use of the wide-open looks the Mustangs gave them along the baseline, especially Michael Wilrodt (20 points) and Adam Jackson. Palma standout forward Orlando Johnson had 19 points.
“We were trying everything (defensively). Man, 3-2, 2-3…” Handy said. “They were just on fire. But that’s how it is on your home court. A lot was riding on this game for Palma.”
And the Chieftains played that way. Twice Gilroy fought back from double-digit deficits only to have its momentum stopped by big plays from Palma. In the second quarter, Gilroy cut Palma’s 13-point lead to four to go into the locker room at the break down just 34-30.
“At the half, we thought we were going to come out and close it out like we usually do,” Handy said.
And for the first six and a half minutes of the third quarter, the Mustangs did that. Handy drained a jumper to cut Palma’s lead to 44-43 with a little over 4:30 to play. After two Palma free throws and a Gilroy timeout, Chisolm converted a big momentum play, hitting a jumper while being fouled to hold Palma’s lead to one again with 1:23 left in the third. But Palma’s Jackson responded with a three-pointer and two free throws and Wilrodt also hit a baseline three with two seconds until the fourth quarter to put Palma ahead 54-45 going into the final quarter.
From there, the Chieftains kept extending the lead. The Mustangs suffered additionally when Chisolm fouled out with 4:29 to play.
Handy felt his team may have been a little too eager to seal the TCAL title coming into the game with Palma.
“I think we got a little ahead of ourselves,” he said. “This game shows we have a lot we need to work on.”
The Mustangs have another chance to clinch the title when they host North Salinas Friday at 7pm.
JV Mustangs Take Over First Place; Gilroy 62, Palma 53
In the battle for first place in the Tri-County Athletic league, the Mustangs prevailed behind a team-high 18 points from Jacob Dexter, who also dished out eight assists. Ben Wilson (14 points, 6 rebounds) and Stephan Galtman (10 points, 8 rebounds) also paced Gilroy. The JV Mustangs are now 22-3 overall and 8-1 in TCAL.
