hemet rancho

SoCal High School & Prep Report

News From Hemet: Rancho Verde
Loses to Hemet Wednesday. . .Twice--(January 23, 1998)

This report is from the Hemet News, which also has it's own website, and which of course sells newspapers on a daily basis. But the website does not archive articles, and for most of us, it's impossible to get the Hemet paper in a timely fashion. So, as a service to all those interested in SoCal basketball, even from the farthest regions, such as Hemet, here's the story of Wednesday's games (boys and girls) between Hemet High School and the Rancho Verde Mustangs. Again, we are compelled to say that if you can get this paper, you should because they have excellent coverage of local teams. And for those who can't, you can check their website daily for more recent articles. Check our "Strictly SoCal" page and scroll down to the bottom for the link to the Hemet News. It's well worth it. Here's the story from Wednesday's games:

By The Hemet News

BOYS--Hemet 71, Rancho Verde 64

MORENO VALLEY - Rancho Verde High School's boys basketball team has all the credentials for success, but there is one problem. The Mustangs can't take Hemet. Rancho Verde lost its fourth-straight game to Hemet, dating back to last season, when the Bulldogs came in Wednesday night and beat them, 71-64.

The Mustangs came into the game ranked No. 8 in the CIF 2-AA poll. Hemet senior guard Moises Alvarez was held to a paltry, by his standards, 16 points but teammates Dustin Martin and Aaron Smith went off for 15 points apiece. The victory improved the Bulldogs to 3-0 in Sunbelt League action and 11-6 overall. Rancho Verde led 36-35 at halftime and both teams traded leads in the second half. Hemet returns to action Friday night at Perris.

GIRLS-- Hemet 61, Rancho Verde 50

Somehow the Hemet High School girls basketball team managed to win their first two Sunbelt League games while shooting poorly from the free throw line. The Bulldogs turned things around before fate could catch up to them, going 10-12 from the line in a 61-50 victory over visiting Rancho Verde, Wednesday.

"We've definitely struggled from the line, and you can't do that against some of the teams in our league," Hemet assistant coach Todd Kinghorn said. Luckily for the Bulldogs, evenings like Friday's 3-of-14 performance from the line have come before the team has hit the tougher part of its schedule.

Hemet has still yet to play league favorites Moreno Valley and Perris, and knows it can ill afford horrible nights from the line against either of those teams. "Moreno Valley has one of the top players in the state and Perris is another team were looking forward to playing, because how well we play them will tell us how good we are," Kinghorn said. The Bulldogs showed they may be pretty good, after dominating Rancho Verde in every phase of the game.

Hemet built a 37-27 lead by halftime and increased it to as much as 21 points at one point. Jena Lehr personally made sure that the Mustangs would not come back in the second half, gathering seven rebounds in the third quarter alone. The Bulldogs offense as a whole has looked out of sink at times throughout the season, but managed to keep such episodes to a minimum Wednesday. Even as the Mustangs appeared to be building momentum towards the end of the third quarter, Lehr hit Angie Rebman with a perfect pass under the basket for a back-breaking hoop as the quarter expired. Lehr led all scorers with 17 points, followed by Rebman with 16 points, Shannon Sevey with 11 points, and Candace Simpson with nine points.