glendora v. nogales

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SoCalHoops High School News

Friday's Glendora v. Nogales Game Details--(March 1, 1999)

Yet another game where we didn't get much this weekend other than the box score. . . but that was before someone pointed out to us that the San Gabriel Valley Tribune is now online. And we've been missing all this great news all year? Unbelievable. In any event, the SGV Tribune had some additional details on the game and we've extracted the best of their report:

According to the story in the SGV Tribune, Nogales really had the intensity and pushed Glendora around for three quarters. Nogales had been tough all year, and won Sierra League this season with an 18-10 record, and in the process "earned a reputation for burning supposedly superior teams."

We like the "supposedly" touch; Glendora, at 29-1 which has now advanced to the semifinal for a rematch of last year's final with San Bernardino Pacific, has been averaging a win margin of 27.5 points over opponents in all playoff victories the past two years. Pretty impressive; guess it qualifies as "supposedly superior."

For three quarters Friday, the Nogales Nobles were in the game: They trailed just 30-24 at halftime and 41-31 toward the end of the third quarter. But Jacobsen closed the quarter with a driving layup, and Clark singlehandedly put the game out of reach to start the fourth. He took and made only three shots all night, but each one was a 3-pointer, and each one was deflating for Nogales. The first came at the end of the first quarter from about 26 feet as the buzzer sounded, and extended Glendora's lead from 14-12 to 17-12. The last two came in the first minute of the fourth quarter, stretching the Nobles' deficit to 49-31 and effectively ending the game. "My role is to pass," said Clark, usually the Tartans' third or fourth option behind Jacobsen and his twin brother Chris, who scored 17 points. "When other teams leave me open, I gotta knock 'em down."

A fierce defensive effort spearheaded by Ronald Quinine kept Jacobsen four points below his average, but the Nobles had trouble scoring against a Tartan defense anchored by 6-foot-9 center Michael Ahmad (three blocked shots). And by halftime, every Nogales starter had at least two fouls. "In the second half, when we usually rise, we didn't," Nogales coach Bob Withers said. "They rose their game up to the championship level. They knew from previous experience what they had to do. "I couldn't be more proud of my kids. The difference was aggressiveness. We were intimidated by their zone. You get more calls when you go to the basket, and we didn't." Adam Talley led Nogales with 15 points and Denver Lopez had 11, but no other Noble had more than six. The Nobles made 18 of 41 field goal attempts. "We played with the kind of playoff intensity we expect," Glendora coach Mike LeDuc said. "It was a lot of fun to see them do that. They responded to their pride, their sense of competitive spirit. "I think (Nogales) did a tremendous job. Having a 21-point win against them is a tremendous accomplishment for us."

And more interesting than Chad's shooting, was the fact that Casey Jacobsen finished the night within 155 points of becoming California All-Time Leading Scorer.

Can he break the record? Well, if Glendora makes it through tomorrow night, and then wins the final, there would be at least three more games left before the State Finals (quarterfinals, semifinals and then the finals), making a total of at least 5 more games if Glendora doesn't lose. Just average 31 points per game, and he ties the record.

For anyone else but Jacobsen we'd say it's not really an attainable goal. But with Casey, nothing seems to be impossible. We'll be watching.