“Coming into this tournament, we were really hungry because of what happened last year. With all of us being returners, we wanted the championship.”
— Justin Nuckolls
PHS junior point guard
 Driven: Patterson High point guard Justin Nuckolls drives toward the basket as Buhach Colony defender Braden Williamson tries to stop him during Saturday night’s championship of the Atwater Save Mart Classic. Nuckolls led Patterson (5-1) with 18 points as the Tigers won, 54-50. Photo by Elias Funez
This year, it took just three weeks to match that total.
Reflecting the team’s massive turnaround, Patterson point guard Justin Nuckolls scored 18 points and the Tigers withstood a late Buhach Colony rally to win the Atwater Save Mart Classic, 54-50, on Saturday night.
“We did a lot of good things,” Lomeli said. “Overall, we had some guys step up and hit some big shots.
That’s what makes the season enjoyable so far. We have different guys contributing on different days, and you saw that today.”
Following an opening round win over Manteca on Thursday, a 47-30 win over Atwater on Friday qualified Patterson for the championship game.
Patterson (5-1) turned to seven different scorers to gain the upper hand against Buhach (5-5).
Robby Samano (eight points) attacked the basket with relentless vigor on four up-tempo layups en route to a 28-23 halftime lead.
Patterson built a double-digit lead in the third quarter on back-to-back baskets from perimeter specialist E.J. Rodriguez. His second baseline shot upped Patterson’s lead to 39-27 with two minutes, 58 seconds left in the third quarter.
“Today, E.J. gave us a spark,” Lomeli said. “He came through again.”
Nuckolls, a junior, maintained his hot shooting by scoring 12 of his 18 points in the second half. His pull-up jumper gave Patterson its biggest lead of the fourth quarter, 47-33, with 5:37 to go.
“It’s really exciting playing our first six games and having as many wins as we did last season,” Nuckolls said. “Coming into this tournament, we were really hungry because of what happened last year. With all of us being returners, we wanted the championship.”
Following Nuckolls’ bucket, Buhach outscored Patterson, 15-5, over the next five minutes, largely on 9-of-13 free-throw shooting.
“We needed to get back to basics toward the end,” Lomeli said. “We made it scarier than it should have been.”
Buhach pulled to within 52-48 on two free throws from Braden Williamson, but Patterson’s Felix Mapanda made two free throws to clinch the game with 18.1 seconds left.
“The big thing is the chemistry,” Lomeli said. “Instead of just playing for themselves, the guys are playing for each other. There are guys that don’t see any time and they’re still in the game. That’s what makes it fun. It’s fun when you win. I hope it continues.”
Mapanda (seven points, six rebounds) was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player, and Nuckolls received All-Tourney honors.
Patterson travels to Manteca on Tuesday night to face East Union. Game time for the varsity squad is 7:30 p.m.
To reach Play Editor Mike Vanden Bosch at the Irrigator, call 892-6187 or e-mail him at
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