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| Tigers open season with win |
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| Written by Marc Aceves | Patterson Irrigator | |
| Saturday, 29 November 2008 | |
 Amber Bond, who iced the Patterson girls basketball team’s season-opening win with a pair of free throws in the game’s waning seconds, drives strong to the basket. Photo by Elias Funez The opening night reviews would agree with him. “It took us a while to figure out what was going on,” McCleery said. “But we started pressing, and a few of the girls made some baskets. “You really started to see the confidence come as the game went on.” Amber Bond — a junior varsity standout a season ago — showed her toughness Tuesday night, leading Patterson to a hard-fought 32-31 victory against host Ripon in the Tigers’ season opener. With 28 seconds remaining in a tight ball game, the junior guard broke free of the Indians’ full-court press, taking a hard foul while driving to the basket. Bond shook off the hit and nailed a pair of free throws to give the Tigers a 32-29 advantage. She then forced a turnover on Ripon’s ensuing possession, tearing a loose ball away from a pile of scrambling players. “This win really helps us, and we needed that confidence,” Bond said. “We worked on our plays and our play-calling at practice, and it showed in the way that we played today.”  Patterson’s Rebecca Hinojos starts a fast break. Photo by Elias Funez But the Indians, guided by Skye Amiguez’s 10 points, took advantage of some poor shooting by Patterson and eventually closed to within one point of the Tigers’ lead. “We knew that we had to trust each other,” Bond said. “There are some very good leaders on this team, and their experience kept the team together at the end.” Behind a consistent pressure defense, the Tigers used a 6-2 run in the final two minutes to turn a closely contested game into a confidence-boosting victory. “Our speed down the stretch got us some easy baskets,” McCleery said. “For a young team to finish a close game at the buzzer was tough.” Bond finished with 15 points to lead all scorers. “We definitely picked up a lot of experience tonight,” McCleery said. “I was proud of the girls for the way that they hung in there and never stopped.” The Tigers see action again on Monday, when Turlock comes to town for the annual Foundation Game. Tipoff is scheduled for 6 p.m. Contact Marc Aceves at 892-6187 or This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .
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