Change in scheme pays off for West
| Friday, Feb 05 2010 11:11 PM
Last Updated Friday, Feb 05 2010 11:11 PM
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West's Fred Wilson and Korey Thieleke and Garces Randall Jackson fight for a rebound during the first half of their game at West on Friday night in Bakersfield.
West's Michael Dunn gets Garces Conrad Winkler in the air on his way to the basket during the first half of their game at West on Friday night in Bakersfield.
West's Taiyon Jackson ducks underneath the arm of Garces Randall Jackson during the first half of their game at West in Bakersfield on Friday night.
West High's boys basketball team scrapped the free-play approach and dug in on defense Friday night, a funny thing happened.
Garces' shots got tougher, and they didn't go in. Then the whole team caught cold, and the open shots wouldn't go in, either.
Clang after clang, brick after brick. By the end, the Rams hadn't made a field goal in the fourth quarter and allowed West to roar away with a 68-55 home victory.
"We got all the momentum," senior Korey Thieleke said. "... (Coach Will Smith) just said stop them from penetrating. Then they missed all their open shots from the 3-point line, too."
Just like that, West (15-7) started contesting the dribble-drives that Randall Jackson (16 points) and Chris Dixon (14) were having an easy time with in the first three quarters, and they erased a 49-38 deficit late in the third quarter with a 30-6 run.
"Honestly, I don't know if I've ever been through a quarter before where we didn't make a shot, and I've been coaching for a long time," Garces coach Gino Lacava said. "It's tough to win a game when you can't make a shot. What are you going to do?"
Thieleke stopped Garces more than any other: He blocked eight shots to go with his 27 points and 10 rebounds.
As impressive as those numbers were, it was other West players who scored the fourth-quarter points, most of which came off quick rebounds and long passes off of Garces' missed shots.
Joe Johnson hit a free throw to tie the game at 51 with 3:58 left, and after Jackson put Garces back ahead with a free throw, Johnson scored the next seven points to give West control.
"We finally started playing some defense, started moving our feet, staying in front of the man, making them shoot hard shots," West coach Will Smith said. "... Just make it tough for them. Sometimes our guys try to do too much."
Johnson scored all 12 of his points in the fourth quarter, and Jordon Washington added 10 points and 12 rebounds for the Vikings.
"Sometimes we try to do too much and show off for the crowd and stuff," Smith said. "As long as we play good defense, our offense will come."
And lo and behold -- many of the fourth-quarter points came on crowd-pleasing dunks that started with a defensive stop.
Conrad Winkler had eight points and 10 rebounds for Garces (15-8), which has lost two straight after a six-game winning streak.
Even though it didn't come in a league game, the victory will have legs for West in Division II Central Section playoff seeding, especially considering it reversed a 79-69 Garces win against West in the second game of the season.
"We finally beat a top-level team," Smith said. "(In the past), we would get close and then lose in the end or something like that. But Garces is always a good team, every year. To finally get there and get a win, is big, is huge for us."
