bakersfield 18

SoCal High School & Prep Report

Bakersfield Hoops: Reports From
Northern SoCal--(January 18, 1998)

There's no doubt about it, even though many consider Bakersfield to be closer to Fresno and the Central part of California, it's really in SoCal. Heck, given the numbers of SoCal players who end up at Fresno State playing for Tark, its probably safe to consider Fresno itself as part of SoCal. So here are some reports from up around Oildale, Arvin, and the Bakersfield environs. Because we thought you should know.

North High (Baskersfield) 64, Foothill (Bakersfield) 63

Tim Hatton is considered the best free-throw shooter on the North High boys basketball team and he proved that Saturday against Foothill, making 10 in a row at one point in the fourth quarter. So when Hatton was fouled with eight seconds remaining and the North Stars clinging to a one-point lead, it seemed to be money in the bank. But Hatton inexplicably missed both of his free throws. However, he then managed to lock up the game anyway with a near-steal that helped eat up six seconds, and caused Foothill's final shot to hit nothing by air as the Stars escaped with a 64-63 non-league road win.

"I guess I was just too tired. I didn't have much left,'' Hatton said. "And there was a lot of pressure, too. But mostly, I wasjust very tired.'' Hatton and his teammates were all drained afterward, and with good reason. Both teams maintained a fast-paced tempo the entire game, a fact that pleased both coaches. "That's one thing I have been harping on, that they have to be more aggressive and have more intensity and hustle,'' North coach Freddie Boyd said. "That's what we haven't been doing, but the last three or four ballgames, we have increased that, and it has helped us a lot. "Even when you make a mistake, if you're hustling and playing aggressively, you can cover up for it.'' The North Stars, who are now only 4-10 on the year, followed Boyd's advice in the face of an equally quick and marginally bigger Foothill squad. First-year Foothill coach Tom Adame said his Trojans, who are now 3-14, may have been a little off their game, at least at the beginning, due to having to come back with an afternoon game after playing on Friday night.

The Trojans went scoreless the first three minutes and scored just 11 points in the opening eight minutes to trail 13-11 at the first break. "That slow start really hurt us, and I think that may have been from last night's game, playing a tough one against West then coming right back in the morning,'' Adame said. "It took a lot to overcome that slow start. We got the lead back, but we took a lot of energy out of ourselves.'' Still, Adame said he was pleased with the way his kids played.

"They are playing with a lot of heart for such a young group,'' he said, noting he has only three seniors on his 13-player roster. "I think we need just one more win so they can start believing in themselves.'' The Trojans nearly got that win Saturday. Foothill built a 30-26 halftime lead, which grew to eight points at the beginning of the second half with a pair of buckets by Richard Calloway and Jason West.

But the Stars rallied to within a basket at the end of the third quarter. Then, fueled by the free-throw shooting of Hatton and Charley Clark, the Stars began the fourth quarter with a 9-0 run that staked them to a lead they would never relinquish. North led by eight at one point in the final period before the Trojans battled back to make it close. North scored all but seven of its 23 fourth-quarter points from the free-throw line. "We got into foul trouble and they hit their free throws,'' Adame said. "They weren't scoring off their offense, but we could have rebounded a little better, I think.''

Hatton scored 14 of his game-high 27 points in the fourth quarter, including 9-of-12 free throws. Clark added 17, including 9-of-10 free-throws. In all, North was 21-for-27 from the line. Ray Martinez led Foothill with 14 points, followed by Calloway with 13, West with 11 and Arnold Walton with 10.

Highland 55, Bakersfield South 52:

Datrimell Mayberry scored 15 of his 17 points in the second half to lead the Highland High boys basketball team to a 55-52 victory over South Saturday at Highland. The non-league victory lifted the Scots over the .500 mark, to 9-8 for the year. Chris Bell added 10 points for Highland and Cornell Robinson had nine. Kevin Kizzy led South, which is now 9-7 with the loss, with 17 points, while Tony Henry scored 10.

Bakersfield 65, Stockdale 54:

This game was played at Stockdale, and Terrance Dunn scored 24 points for Bakersfield in the win. Bakersfield outscored Stockdale 24-13 in the third quarter to take a 54-40 lead. Kevin McKinney added 11 points for the Drillers. Stockdale got 17 points from Bryson Gholston and 10 from Britt Beal. The loss puts Stockdale at 6-10 on the season. Bakersfield is now 13-4.

Bakersfield West High 70, Arvin 65:

In a game played in Arvin, Chris Jackson led four West players in double figures as the Vikings beat Arvin. Jackson scored 15 points and Phillips Thompson added 14 for West, which led by 22 points in the second quarter, but had to survive a rally that saw Arvin pull within five points late in the fourth quarter. Arvin's Desi Botello scored a game-high 28 points and Ernie Cantu added 16. Arvin is now 4-11 on the season.