Jan. 30, 2009

NCAL Roundup:

Big third quarter fuels 7 Hills past Gilmore

The Seven Hills 8th grade boys basketball team has used some strong second half performances this season to help push itself to the top of the Nevada County Athletic League standings at the halfway point of the schedule.

Thursday afternoon playing at home against Lyman Gilmore, the Raiders did it again.

Trailing the visiting Bombers after a tight first half, 12-10, Seven Hills used a torrid third quarter to break open a close game and get on their way to a 44-23 win.

The victory, the seventh straight in NCAL play for the Raiders, raised the Nevada City cagers’ league leading mark to 7-1, good for a game and a half lead over both Pleasant Valley and Weimar Hills who are each 5-2

Seven Hills’ big 20-3 third quarter point explosion, which pushed the Raiders into a commanding, 33-13 advantage at the end of the third period, was fueled by Sean Zuccaro who tallied 13 of his game-high 17 points in the canto.

Rob Wood and Dalton McGuire both added six points each for the winners while Hank Humphers and Ryan Mccarthy also supplied outstanding all-around play to help key the Raiders’ pressing defense which forced the Bombers into numerous turnovers.

Cody Gardner’s nine points and six from Ian Davis led Gilmore who fell to 4-4 in league play.

Elsewhere in NCAL 8th grade action on Thursday:

Weimar Hills 38 Magnolia 28 – The Warriors limited the Rattlers to just two first half field goals in building a 20-7 lead by intermission and then cruised home in the second half to the win.

The Warriors built their biggest lead of the game at 27-11 midway through the third quarter.

Matt Larson’s 12 points, nine from Ryan Glazner and four each by Devon Loomis, Austin Mulderrig and Will Buell led Weimar’s balanced attack.

Cody Heard scored eight points – all in the second half – to lead Magnolia while Derek Ross added seven.

Union Hill 42 Forest Lake 14 – In a game played on Wednesday, Jason Mickel tallied 12 points, Jeremy Smedley added 11 and Daniel Tillotson and Gus Bisiaux added five each has the Bearcats won their second straight game.

7th Grade

Forest Lake 37 Union Hill 35 – Union Hill and Forest Lake battled tooth and nail for the full four quarters before the host Falcons used an off-balance nine-footer off the glass by Chase Augustino has time expired for the win.

The setback was Union Hill’s first after six straight NCAL wins.

In the see-saw battle, Union Hill led 10-8 after a quarter before Forest Lake played well in the third quarter to take an 18-14 lead at halftime.

In the opening minutes of the fourth quarter, a three-point shooting exhibition by Union Hill’s Logan Gardner helped vault the Bearcats into a seven-point advantage.

However, Forest Lake started its comeback and after Union Hill missed a go-ahead shot attempt with 14 seconds to play, the ball ended up in Augustino’s hands for the eventual game winner.

Gardner led Union Hill with 13 points while Berger added 12 points and nine rebounds. Collin Echols also played well and contributed four more points.

Union Hill 38 Pleasant Valley 25 – Five steals from Jake Berger keyed Union Hill’s win over the visiting Vikings.

Berger finished the game with 14 points for the ‘Cats while Beau DePois added 11 more points and Austin Ladder added six points and four assists to the winning total.

Weimar Hills 43 Magnolia 22 – The host Warriors jumped out to a 19-0 advantage to set the tone in the win which improved their NCAL mark to 6-1.

Michael Wilson had the hot hand for the winners as he meshed 16 points. Crhis Harshman followed with seven points while Jack Baldoni and Jordan Balser both added six points each and Adam Gutierrez  sank four.

Magnolia was paced by Jake Sypnicki’s six points.