West High boys will go after the championship in the Tracy Winter Holiday Boys Basketball Classic after they rallied in the second quarter on their way to a 55-48 win over Center High of Antelope in Wednesday’s semifinal game.
Center had a 16-8 lead at the end of the first quarter after the Cougars used their height advantage to outrebound the Wolf Pack. It wasn’t until West clamped down on defense that the Pack started to work its way back.
West’s junior forward Robert Mason took over on the boards, with 10 rebounds for the night and a couple steals and blocked shots, and also hit a couple shots from the floor to get West within reach early in the second quarter.
“We came out to a slow start but I feel we have more heart than their team,” Mason said. “We just outworked them. We had more energy.”
Jaylen Sanders also hit a couple shots to put the Pack ahead, and Jordan McIntosh hit three from the floor, including a 3-pointer, plus a series of free-throws as West outscored Center 24-10 in the second quarter to claim a 32-26 lead at the half.
West coach Derek Sprecksel said that his team also went back to basics on defense to keep the Cougars in check.
“We decided to do what we do best, and that’s pick up people, pressure them, get after them, and our guys got really low in the stance, and they took it personally and they played great defense,” he said. “The toughness of our team really showed tonight.”
West stayed in control through the second half on even as Center’s Chad Haysbert hit five shots from the floor and led on rebounds in the fourth quarter.
Mason was West’s leading scorer with 13 points, McIntosh scored 11, Charles Piper scored 10 and Damon Sloan scored seven. Center’s leading scorers were Christopher Smith with 18 and Haysbert with 15.
Tracy 90, Franklin 75
The Bulldogs’ shooters went on a scoring spree in their third round game Wednesday at West High. Tracy went out to a 23-17 lead in the first quarter and kept on hitting its shots from the floor. It would have been a more lopsided win had the Bulldogs not found themselves in foul trouble. The Yellow Jackets hit 27 of 35 shots from the free-throw line, including 15 of 16 from the Jackets’ leading scorer Colizel Lewis, who scored 28 in all.
They were still no match for Tracy, which got 28 points from Cole McDaniel, 24 from T.J. Williams, and 16 from Hugo Levy, who hit four 3-point shots. Also hitting the outside shots was Franklin’s Carlton McGee, who hit five 3-pointers and scored 19 in all.
Valley 73, Kimball 59
After a closely contested first half the Valley Vikings of Sacramento had a 26-23 lead over Kimball in the consolation bracket semifinal. Kimball Coach Joe Lawrence said that the Vikings got away on a couple scoring runs in the third quarter, when the Jaguars missed their shots and the Vikings got the rebounds, fast breaks and layups to extend their lead to 50-37, and put the game out of Kimball’s reach.
Top scorer for the Jaguars was Shakeel Carpenter with 11 points, and Devonte Price scored nine.
Other Wednesday results
Weston Ranch 57, Johansen 45
Livingston 57, Downey 49
Enochs 69, Los Banos 65
Vallejo def. Linden
Modesto 59, Lathrop 46
Thursday’s games
All at West High
Winner’s bracket
Championship: West vs. Weston Ranch, 7:30 p.m.
Third Place: Center vs. Johansen, 6 p.m.
Livingston vs. Enochs, 4:30 p.m.
Downey vs. Los Banos, 3 p.m.
Consolation bracket
Final: Vallejo vs. Valley, 1:30 p.m.
Kimball vs. Linden, Noon
Tracy vs. Modesto, 10:30 a.m.
Lathrop vs. Franklin, 9 a.m.
Tuesday
West 55, Downey 42
The Wolf Pack claimed a win in the second round of the Tracy Winter Holiday Boys’ Basketball Classic Tuesday at West High. West kept up with Downey in the first half with a couple 3-point shots from Jordan McIntosh, and Damon Sloan and Robert Mason hit their shots in the second quarter to make it a 32-28 game in West’s favor at the half. West continued to outscored Downey in the second half to extend its lead and take the win.
Sloan led all scorers with 21 points and Mason scored 15. McIntosh scored 13 in all. Downey’s leading scorer was Kyle Vaught with 17.
Kimball 62, Tracy 56
The Jaguars came through with a big second quarter to take a 32-24 lead at the half Tuesday afternoon at Tracy High. The Bulldogs outscored the Jaguars in the second half, but it wasn’t enough to catch up.
Ten of the 12 players on Kimball’s roster scored on Tuesday, including Chandler Alves with 13 points and Shakeel Carpenter with 12, including two 3-point shots. Tracy’s T.J. Williams led all scorers with 19 points, and Cole McDaniel scored 17 for the Bulldogs.
Other Tuesday results
Center 96, Livingston 41
Weston Ranch 92, Enochs 68
Johansen 57, Los Banos 52
Vallejo 78, Modesto 59
Linden 54, Lathrop 43
Valley 72, Franklin 46
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