Basketball: Jaguars take third, Falcons finish seventh at Annual West High Tourney

The Jaguars put together their most complete 32 minutes of the tournament on Day 3 and clinched third place with a dominant victory over the Wolf Pack.

The game in itself was very chippy. Both sets of coaches were not too pleased with the officiating — causing a number of stoppages in the early action. The Jags players, though, managed to find composure in the chaos and diligently built a lead over the course of the first half.

Kimball was up seven after one and stretched that lead to a 10-point ball game by half time, leading 27-17. They were led by junior forward Armon Naweed at the break with five points. All five came on a nice 5-0 solo run consisting of a dunk and a triple to create the separation.

After the break, the Jags’ lead quickly ballooned up to 18 points through suffocating defense and patient execution down the other end — much to the delight of head coach Albert Garibaldi.

“Our kids did a good job of staying focused and getting this victory,” he told the Tracy Press. “For us, defense always is the key. I also have to shout out a couple of our juniors — Osama Mirghani and Amin Madison — who as juniors came in and had a great game today and that really helped us.”

Mirghani chipped in with a big 8 points for Kimball at the forward position. Madison handled the ball for the Jags in stretches and delivered 5 points, an assist, and a steal.

The Jags defense held the Wolf Pack scoreless for almost five third quarter minutes to start which all but killed off the game. Senior forward Benito Ruiz came off the bench to contribute nicely with 7 points, four assists and two steals.

The forward had this to say on his team's win: “I think we did decent and honestly we can do a lot better. This tournament will prepare us well for the rest of the season after going up against two league teams, so it gives us a good idea of what we’re going to be up against.”

Elsewhere for the Jags, senior guard Jayden Richardson ran the show out of the backcourt with 6 points, six assists and four steals on the defensive end. Seniors — forward Chris Obiajulu and center Kyle Colbert — had eight and six points respectively. Naweed had nine.

Richardson praised his teams’ togetherness as they were able to regroup and get over a tough 61-53 loss at the hands of Mountain House on Friday.

“We all came together yesterday,” the Jags guard said. “After a loss, we always have to go back and work on our stuff and today we just came out, played together, played as a family and worked on our defense which was the biggest thing in this game.”

The Wolf Pack found themselves in a tough match up physically and against a team that was very well oiled within their defensive assignments. They have to settle for fourth place on their home floor, however with valuable learning moments to take away from the weekend.

West was led by junior wing Cameron Williams on the day with 6 points and six boards. Junior point guard Xavier Cardona Renshaw was a perfect 5-5 from the free throw line before being forced out of the game through an ankle injury.

Junior power forward Yuvi Mann added five points and three steals for the Wolf Pack. Senior guard Phillip Hill had four points and two steals. Senior center Isaac Tomtania had five points.

Millennium 43, Leadership 36

The Falcons rounded off an overall good weekend for the local teams by taking down the Leadership Royals of Hayward in a hard fought 7th place playoff.

Over the course of the 32 minutes, the two teams were quite evenly matched with the Falcons holding a physical advantage inside and on the glass. However, they got off to a slow start with Leadership taking a quick 5-0 lead — forcing head coach Mike Woods into an early timeout.

Despite the early struggles, the Falcons were down just two points after one thanks to some good energy from senior point guard Ethan Dargin with four first quarter points and two steals out of the backcourt.

The leadership core of the Falcons really stepped up against the Royals and eventually became the difference as Millennium led 20-17 at the half.

“This was better,” Woods said after the game. “I thought we played scared yesterday and we didn’t do that today. We’ve been hustling all tournament and everything about these pre-season games is about preparation for the league and I think we’re trending in the right direction.” 

Senior forward Jeremiah Bello has been a standout and a constant threat for the Falcons throughout the tournament and came out with a point to prove on Saturday. Bello made big play after big play for the Falcons in the second quarter and led the way with a huge double-double of 15 points, 11 boards and two steals in the game.

Dargin contributed with 8 points, six rebounds and five steals. Senior forward Tyrone Bailey had 8 points and eight boards. Senior forward Vivek Cherian had eight points in the game.

Bello had what proved to be a game winning stretch in the third quarter when the Royals creeped back into the game — cutting the Falcons lead down to one point. In response, Bello went on a 6-0 solo run to regain a seven-point cushion.

“Our leadership played solid ball today,” Woods said. “They stepped up. Those are the guys I always talk to about scoring more easily. Jeremiah (Bello) is a great athlete but he’s just a sweet kid. He doesn’t have that aggression in him and we have to try and draw it out.”

The Falcons led 30-23 after three and continued chipping away in the fourth quarter despite the Royals managing to come back within five points down the stretch. Cherian all but iced the game with a big triple with 3:10 left in the game to make it 39-31 Millennium and take their record on the weekend to 1-2.

East Union 56, Bear Creek 46

The Lancers took home the Consolation Championship after coming from behind late in the first half and going on to take down the Bruins.