Bearcats Take Tourney

Fourth quarter is difference has Union Hill pulls away for 35-25 win

Union Hill's Bearcats clawed their way past Weimar Hills, 35-25, to take the season ending Nevada County Athletic League's 7th grade large school tournament championship Saturday. Union Hill's team is comprised of front from left, Tyler Sidebottom, Nathan Selleck, Beau Despois, Tel Newman. Top from left, coach Ryan Ellis, Collin Echols, Austin Ladder, Kyle McCombs, Chase Milhous, Jake Berger, Logan Gardner. obfoto.coml

Weimar 8th; Union Hill 7th Claim Tourney Crowns

Two proved to be better than one Saturday in the large school finals of the Nevada County Athletic League’s boys basketball tournament championship games played at Nevada Union High.

In an exciting finish to a week-long flurry of junior high hoop action, Weimar Hills’ 8th graders and Union Hill’s 7th graders -  each respective No. 2 seeds in the season ending tourney – came up with clutch performances to upend top seeds and take home championship trophies.

In the the 7th grade title game, Union Hill and Weimar Hills, which had split a pair of regular season overtime games, battled tooth and nail for three quarters before the Bearcats out-pointed the Warriors 11-1 in a decisive fourth quarter to capture a 35-25 victory.

Meanwhile, in the 8th grade title game, Weimar Hills used some blistering shooting to build a big lead and then held off a furious Seven Hills rally in the second half to notch a 53-46 and take first place honors.

Here’s a recap of Saturday’s action.

7th Grade

Union Hill 35 Weimar Hills 25 – Bearcats coach Ryan Ellis challenged his team to play its best defensive game of the season and his squad responded by holding the Warriors to just a single fourth quarter free throw to notch the win.

“We had to extend our zone and create more pressure out front,” said Ellis. “Weimar did a great job of penetrating and getting the ball inside the paint the last time we played.”

Using their 3-2 zone to stymie the Warriors, Union Hill separated themselves in the final seven minutes with Logan Gardner and Kyle McCombs leading the offense.

Gardner tallied a game-high 19 points and scored a pair of key three-pointers while McCombs added 10 key points and snared eight rebounds.

Jake Berger and Nathan Selleck also were vital for the victors with four steals apiece.

“We had a great season,” said Ellis whose squad finished the year 17-5. “I’m kind of sad to see it end.”

Weimar Hills, the regular season 7th grade champion which will hold the reinstated NCAL perpetual trophy for a year, was led in scoring by Cole Joyce with eight points and Adam Gutierrez with six. The Warriors finished the season with a record of 22-7.

8th Grade

Weimar Hills 53 Seven Hills 46 – The Warriors, who shot the lights out in a Friday semi-final win over Gilmore, continued their torrid shooting to lead from start to finish in the win over the Raiders.

The Warriors led 16-7 after a quarter and 29-19 at the halftime break before Seven Hills followed Lenny Kirshbaum’s seven third quarter points to lead a 17-12 charge that pulled the Raiders back to within 41-36 going into the final seven minutes.

However, after the Raiders pulled to within four points, Weimar Hills’ Matt Larson converted a critical three-point play and Will Buell drained a huge trey from the corner to ward off the Nevada City squad.

Weimar Hills, which connected on 17 of 28 free throws in the game, meshed six of 10 from the charity stripe in the pivotal fourth stanza.

Buell led all scorers with 22 markers while Ryan Glazner added 11 points and grabbed a season-high 17 rebounds.

Larson added nine more for the winners while Devon Loomis tallied six, Taylor Dorsey four and Austin Mulderrig one.

For Seven Hills, Kirshbaum’s 17 led the way while Sean Zuccaro added 10, Ryan McCarthy and Luke Agness six each, Rob Wood five and Dalton McClure two.

Weimar Hills, which won its third tournament of the season, raised its season record to 25-5 and will head to the Crescent City Tournament of Champions March 6-7.

Gilmore 43 Pleasant Valley 42 – In the third place game for the 8th grade large school division, Gilmore’s Trevor Bryant, fouled while shooting a three-point shot with two seconds to play, meshed two of the trio of charity shots for the difference in the one-point win.

Pleasant Valley’s Kyle Cota had given the Vikings a one-point, 42-41, advantage by netting one of two free tosses with six seconds to play.

Gilmore then worked the ball down to Bryant for the shot that produced the foul and the eventual winning free tosses.

Cody Gardner’s 15 points led the winners while Bryant added nine, Ian Davis six and Cody Manes four.