Mustangs still searching for first victory after 78-57 loss to
Valley Christian High
SAN JOSE – For one quarter in Tuesday’s non-league clash at Valley Christian High, the Mustang hoopsters showed that they could hang with one of the best the West Catholic Athletic League has to offer.
But the next three quarters demonstrated how much more the Gilroy High boys basketball team needs to work, as host Valley Christian’s full-court press wore them down in lopsided 78-57 loss.
“I think the more games and the more pressure and the good teams like this we play more, the more I learn about the kids. I learned a few more good things tonight. I think there’s a lot of good things to build on,” said first-year head coach Bud Ogden. “This is an excellent press. This is a WCAL team, a WCAL defense. So I knew we can play with them for a portion of the game, but we just got to extend up and build on it.”
Gilroy – which is still searching for its first win of the season heading into Thursday’s Bob Hagen Classic – trailed by only one at the end of the first quarter. But Valley Christian outscored the Mustangs 11-4 in the second quarter for a 37-19 lead and forged ahead in the second half, leading by 21 going into the final eight minutes.
“They are a good team. They’re a ball-hawking team. We learned a lot from that,” said Ogden before joining his players in the visitor’s locker room. “We dribbled too much and we didn’t pass and that was our game plan – pass the ball, move the ball, hit open men and move it through the air and not through the dribble and we didn’t execute very well.”
It was only two seasons ago (2001-02) that the Mustangs upset Valley Christian at Gilroy High, 77-72. That same year Valley Christian went on to win the Northern California Championship, while Gilroy won a share of the league title and reached the CCS Division I Quarterfinals.
“We knew early on and I’ve said it before, ‘When we don’t shoot it well, we’re not going to win,'” Ogden said. “We’ve been shooting a lot in practice and it hasn’t paid off yet. It will soon pay off.”
Senior guard Brandt Chacon led the Mustangs on offense with a team-high 14 points and senior teammate Ron Colmon tallied eight points before injuring his ankle on the opening score of the third quarter. Ten Gilroy players reached the scoring column, including senior Kyle Warren (eight points), junior Vince Mitre (six points), and senior Adam Jones (five points).
“I’m seeing different combinations that will work now. The combinations we used tonight weren’t very big, but this wasn’t a very big team so we matched up pretty well,” Ogden said. “I learn a little bit of something new every day, but the one thing the kids do is they don’t give up. They keep scrapping, scrapping, scrapping.”
In the first quarter, the Mustangs kept pace with their sharp-shooting opponents, opening with a sweet look from Mitre to Chacon. Gilroy even built a brief three-point lead on a trey from Warren and then again on a lay-in via Colmon. But Valley Christian never went away, eventually tying the score at 12-12 and then taking a 14-12 lead. Colmon evened the score back up on a steal and lay-up, but a Valley Christian bucket gave the hosts the lead for good with 22 ticks left. Mitre added a free throw to make it a one-point game at the end of the first.
“I’m trying to find some combinations with some guys who can give us a spark off the bench. We’ve got some football mentality with Ben (Hemeon) and Jared (Gamm) and Mark (Kennedy). I think that gives us a little lift, but we need some scoring,” Ogden said. “We haven’t gotten really an awful lot out of our three guy. Vinny (Mitre) played the whole first quarter because he gives us some spark.”
With Mitre in foul trouble in the second quarter, the Mustangs dried up from the field, allowing Valley Christian to quickly extend to a 12-point advantage with 5:51 left in the half. Senior Kyle Loving scored his only two points to end the Gilroy drought, but the damage was already done. By halftime, the Mustangs were far behind, 37-19.
“They’re giving 110 percent and I wouldn’t expect anything less from them,” said Ogden of his team. “We’re all giving 110 percent and we will all year come win or loss or whatever. We’ve got to get rid of the ‘O’ in the front of our record, though.”
Gilroy, which may have faced the toughest team it will go up against all season long, will have a solid opportunity to notch its first ‘W’ with Thursday’s opening game of the Hagen Tournament against Alvarez (1-3) at 8 p.m.
“I think next week in our tournament, a lot of good teams, a lot of teams we know real well, this will be excellent because I don’t think anybody is going to press us harder, play defense on the wings or on the point as hard as these guys do,” Ogden said.
