By winning two games in a row at the West Coast Classic, the
Gilroy boys basketball team took home the consolation championship
– and maybe a little bit of much needed confidence after a 1-5
start.
Gilroy – By winning two games in a row at the West Coast Classic, the Gilroy boys basketball team took home the consolation championship – and maybe a little bit of much needed confidence after a 1-5 start.
After squandering a 17-point lead in a 3-point loss against Oakland Tech in the first round of the tournament at Valley Christian Thursday, the Mustangs bounced back with a 60-53 win over San Francisco’s Lincoln High Friday and a defeat over highly-regarded Monterey 56-39 Saturday.
Now, the Mustangs stand at 3-5 and Gilroy head coach Bud Ogden has every reason to believe Gilroy can get to .500 before the 26th Annual Bob Hagen Memorial Tournament begins Thursday.
“(Beating Monterey) was huge for us,” Ogden said. “Our confidence has to be bolstered somewhat at this point.”
Gilroy has a busy and action-packed week, with the possibility of five games in five days on tap. The Mustangs travel to North Monterey County today (7pm) and back up to Valley Christian Wednesday (7:30pm) before kicking off the Bob Hagen Memorial Tournament at home Thursday (8pm) against St. Francis of the Coast.
Friday’s game against Lincoln saw the return of senior point guard Dominik Wilkins, who missed Thursday’s game with a sprained ankle. In that game, Ogden saw some improvement out of his squad.
“Our shooting was somewhat better. We were staying out of foul trouble,” Ogden said “We were doing everything a little bit better.”
However, the coach said the Mustangs didn’t fully utilize a big size advantage.
“Those entry passes into the big man, we need a lot of work on that,” Ogden said. “I think when you get the ball in there, most of the time you’re going to get a decent shot.”
But at least one player had a big presence around the basket. Senior forward Ryan Chisolm had a double-double, ripping down 20 rebounds and scoring 14 points. Senior guard Jeremy Teschera led the team with 16 points and sophomore center Jason Conrad chipped in eight points and nine rebounds.
Against Monterey Saturday, Conrad and Destry Jones scored 11 apiece while Chisolm (7 rebounds), Wilkins (6 rebounds) and Teschera each had seven.
Gilroy held Monterey to 16 first-half points and followed up with a commanding third quarter where the ‘Stangs outscored the Toreadors 20-10.
West Coast Classic @ Valley Christian
Consolation, 2nd round Friday
Lincoln (SF) 5 24 10 14 -53
Gilroy 11 20 16 13 -60
Consolation Championship
Monterey 8 8 11 12 -39
Gilroy 9 15 20 12 -56
