‘We are battling’ - Daily Democrat

HIGH SCHOOL BOYS BASKETBALL

‘We are battling’

Patriots fall just short against Wood in Monticello Empire League matchup

Pioneer High School junior Emiliano Romero goes up for a shot during an MEL game against Wood on Tuesday.

Pioneer High School junior Rick Reister goes up for a basket during a Monticello Empire League clash against Wood on Tuesday. PHOTOS BY CARLOS GUERRERO — DAILY DEMOCRAT

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By Carlos Guerrero

cguerrero@dailydemocrat.com

Despite battling back from a double-digit deficit to tie the game up late, the Pioneer High School boys varsity basketball team could not complete the comeback and fell just short of a win Tuesday night losing to Monticello Empire League rivals Wood 54-48.

“The start of the game was reflective of us not being ready to go tonight,” Pioneer head coach Barry Reese said. “We have had that issue a little bit throughout the course of the year and we are not good enough to overcome those starts in this league. Everyone is already ahead of us so we can’t be spotting teams leading to us to have to battle back.”

The Patriots (6-15, 0-5) came into the matchup on a bit of a skid, dropping their first four MEL games of the year to Vanden, Rodriguez, River City and Vacaville by the scores of 74-37, 90-63, 57-48 and 71-50. Before that, however, they enjoyed a 66-48 win over Armijo on Dec. 30. Other key wins this year include a 67-53 win over Winters, a 62-43 win over cross-town rivals Woodland High School and a 56-55 win over Rio Linda.

Reese knew growing pains were likely this season with not only a slight rebuild on his to do list, but an expected acclimation period in a new and more competitive league. Despite the 0-5 start, Reese is confident the team can grow and get to where he wants them in order to get that first MEL win.

“I wanted to feel my way through the first half of the league schedule and see where we were,” Reese said. “I honestly believe that we are about where we thought we would be. We are battling teams. I knew we were going to do that, but I hoped we would have been able to finish one of these games. We are a young team starting two sophomores and two juniors with a senior, but I am proud of the way the young guys look at each task and do the best they can.”

Wood (12-9, 01-4 SDL) came into the meeting with a better overall record but an identical four-game losing streak in the league to River City, Vanden, Sacramento and Rodriguez.

After Pioneer High School sophomore Melvir Pooni tied it up at 2-2, Wood mounted a 5-0 run to go up 7-2. Pooni then broke the run with another inside basket to make it 4-7. The Patriots’ final point of the first quarter would come via an Alex Macias free throw to make it 5-12.

Another Wood basket made it 14-5 going into the second quarter.

About midway through the second quarter, Pioneer High School junior Bodie Britton drove to the basket to make it 20-13. After Wood extended the lead to 10 points, Pooni came in hot with a runner to cut the lead back to eight. This time, a free throw from the Patriots’ Emiliano Romero was their final point of the half as both teams went into the break 24-16.

In the third, Pioneer enjoyed the highest-scoring quarter of the game with 18 points, outscoring Wood by 3.

Alex Macias led things off with a bucket and free throw following a foul to cut the lead to 26-19. On the next drive, after catching a pass, Macias would swing the ball behind his back to senior captain Nate Blacksmith for an open 3-pointer. Britton got back in on the action with a breakaway layup after a Wood miss to make it 28-24.

A few possessions later, Pioneer cut it to just two after Pooni executed a nice fade away jumper. Macias then grabbed an offensive board and put back on the next possession to tie it up at 28-28.

Wood then began driving to the hoop at will, drawing a steady amount of fouls and free throws. After weathering the storm through the Patriots run, they took a 39-34 lead into the fourth quarter.

Pioneer tied up the game on its opening two possessions, leading to a timeout from the visitors. The timeout worked wonders a they ran up an 8-3 run to take a 47-42 lead that they would not relinquish.

Pioneer junior Jordan Constancio made the home sides’ final basket on a running layup to make the score 54-48.

Up next for the Patriots will be a Friday night in-league road trip to Sacramento High School set for 7 p.m. After that, they will return home to host Vanden on Monday and then take a trip to Rodriguez next Friday, Jan 31.

“Just like tonight, we either make critical errors in crunch time that cost us or we start slow and have to play catchup to be where we need to be,” Reese said. “We just need to put a complete game together. We have not done that just yet.”