Patterson Irrigator

January 7, 2009 Patterson, CA

Polls

Latest Forum Posts

Taking a Knee
unclebuck 15-11-08 13:51

Re:Football
unclebuck 07-10-08 15:24

Re:Football
unclebuck 02-10-08 12:59

Login Form

Tigers grind out gutsy win over Manteca

Written by Mike Vanden Bosch / Patterson Irrigator

Saturday, 15 December 2007

“This was a big win for us. ... We really got down and played team defense toward the end of the night.”
— Justin Nuckolls Patterson point guard

ATWATER — Following a fruitless half filled with missed opportunities and only two points, Patterson point guard Justin Nuckolls faced a gut check at halftime Thursday in the Atwater Save Mart Classic.

“In the locker room, the coaches really fired us up,” Nuckolls said. “The players really put me up to it because I had a horrible first half. We wanted to play in the championship game.”

Nuckolls stepped up to the challenge by scoring 11 of his 13 points in the third quarter, including Patterson’s first nine points of the half, as the Tigers overcame an early deficit and outlasted Manteca, 61-56.

“This was a big win for us,” Nuckolls said. “The chemistry was there. One of our goals for the night was to play team defense. We really got down and played team defense toward the end of the night.”

Patterson advanced to the winner’s bracket of the three-day tournament, improving to 3-1 in preseason play.

The Tigers relied on early scoring from Felix Mapanda and Robby Samano, who were Patterson’s lone scorers in a 10-6 first-quarter advantage.

Samano exploited his speed for uncontested reverse layups en route to eight first-half points, while the
6-foot-5 Mapanda was a force around the basket.

Ronyea Ellington eyes the basket as he goes up for the shot. Photo by Elias Funez / Patterson Irrigator

However, Manteca (2-3) bounced back on the phenomenal play of 5-foot-5 freshman guard Kiwi Gardner. He scored 10 of Manteca’s 19 second-quarter points, leading all scorers with 25 points, and gave the Buffaloes a 25-23 halftime lead.

“You don’t get a gift like that very often,” Patterson coach Tony Lomeli Jr. said. “They got one in him. If that kid continues to get better, he’s going to be pretty good and very special.”

Poised to avoid two straight losses following Monday’s setback against Los Banos, Patterson turned to its point guard to carry the third-quarter load.

Nuckolls’ pull-up jumper tied the game at 25-25 one minute into the third quarter. He followed with a fast-break layup, another pull-up jumper, a 3-point play in the lane, and a put-back to finish the quarter for a 41-37 Patterson lead.

In the fourth quarter, Mapanda picked up where Nuckolls left off by scoring 11 of his team-high 23 points.

Gardner still torched the Tigers for seven straight points midway through the fourth quarter to briefly retake the lead, 48-47. Later, a 3-pointer by Daniel Chavez put the Buffaloes up 54-50 with two minutes, 50 seconds left in the game.

But Patterson converted eight of nine free throws from the foul line in the game’s final five minutes. Meanwhile, Manteca misfired on a few possessions in crunch time.

“We had some guys hit some big shots for us,” Manteca coach David Ascuncion said. “Patterson hit free throws, and we kind of missed some down the stretch. In close games, that’s the ball game right there. We got a little impatient offensively.”

The Tigers got big post play from Robert Krager (10 points), who scored back-to-back baskets in the paint near the two-minute mark, as Patterson regained the lead, 54-53. Mapanda sealed the game with two free throws with 9.6 seconds left.

Ryan DeForest shoots over Manteca's Jorge Casto. Photo by Elias Funez / Patterson Irrigator

“We still made the same type of mistakes we did in the last game against Los Banos,” Lomeli said. “We were able to overcome our turnovers, come down and get a good shot. That’s something we weren’t able to do all of last year. We grew a little bit today.”

Junior varsity
Patterson came within a basket of erasing a sluggish first half and nearly overtook Manteca’s double-digit lead, only to fall short in a 43-41 loss.

Patterson (2-2) endured a slow first half in which Manteca built a 22-13 halftime lead on eight points from 6-foot-3 forward Gerry Cooper.

The Tigers made it a game in the second half on 10 points and nine rebounds from 6-foot, 200-pound forward Kiery Casey. Though he was held scoreless in the first half, Casey’s physical presence presented matchup problems for Manteca.

“Kiery got good position,” Patterson coach Buzzy Wheeland said. “He’s not the leaper, but he has the fundamentals. He’s a banger, and he likes to mix it up. He played really well inside. I tell my players that if they get in the right position, they’ll get the ball.”

Patterson shot 8-of-19 from the free-throw line, yet Wheeland largely attributed the setback to a slow first half.

“We got to come out of the gates a little faster,” he said. “In the second half, we always seem to come back. We need to play the first half like we do the second half and have that intensity at the beginning. Our defense is playing really well.”

The varsity and junior varsity conclude the three-day Save Mart Classic today.

To reach Play Editor Mike Vanden Bosch at the Irrigator, call 892-6187 or e-mail him at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

Set as favorite

Bookmark

Email This

Comments (0)