BY STEPHEN LYNCH
There was quite a contrast in the way the two title games of the first ever South Yosemite Conference Basketball Championships played out on Thursday night at North High.
The girls game was a blowout decided in the first few minutes after the opening tip, while the boys game went down to the wire with the result finally determined in overtime.
The Bakersfield High girls, led by the outstanding all-around play of Erica Hayden, jumped out to an early 20-3 lead en route to an easy 56-37 victory over Tehachapi.
Hayden tied a career-high with 18 points and grabbed seven rebounds and dished out six assists as the Drillers (26-2) rolled to their 24th straight victory.
“I thought we came out and did what we were supposed to,” BHS girls coach Rashaan Shehee said. “Wanted to make sure we continued to keep our intensity. Very pleased with the way we came out and played.”
BHS’ hopes of sweeping the event were dashed later in the evening when the Garces boys team let an 18-point second-quarter lead slip away before rallying in overtime to edge the Drillers 57-54.
Jack Hatten scored a game-high 20 points and JJ Uphold had 11 points and 10 rebounds for the Rams, who came in the game as substantial underdogs based on a pair of regular season losses, including one by 32 points, to BHS this season.
“This this our third time playing them,” Hatten said. “We’ve been close, but they blew us out the last time. To come out and win tonight, I’m speechless. I can’t believe it. It’s awesome.”
The BHS girls led a solid Warriors squad by double figures nearly the entire game.
Leading 11-3 midway through the first quarter, Hayden scored three straight baskets to kick start a 9-0 Drillers run.
Despite the best efforts of Teagan Thurman, who finished with 20 points and 20 rebounds for Tehachapi, BHS continued to lead big the rest of the first half and went into the locker room at halftime in front 33-18.
The Drillers never let Tehachapi (18-2) get closer than 13 points of the lead in the second half.
Ray Vaughn scored 10 points and Taylor Linzie added nine points and 10 rebounds for BHS, which was propelled to the victory in large part due to a strong defensive performance.
The Drillers held Tehachapi to 24.5-percent shooting from the floor and scored 17 points off 20 Warriors’ turnovers.
“We knew we had a competition and I’m just glad our team kept it together and we played a good game,” Hayden said.
Hayden connected on 7 of 15 shots from the field and was 2 of 2 from the free throw line. She was named BHS’ Player of the Game.
“Everything was just falling for me,” Hayden said. “It was a good game for me.”
Shehee was pleased with Hayden’s play but also how his team came out and established control of things right at the start of the game.
“We tried to have an emphasis on starting fast because lately we haven’t been starting fast,” Shehee said. “We’ve been a little bit lethargic with our defensive rotations. Today we did what we were supposed to.”
The Garces boys completely dominated early action against BHS.
The Rams, behind the hot shooting of Hatten, led 21-8 at the end of the first quarter and 33-17 at halftime.
BHS, which played much of the game without star forward David Whatley due to foul trouble, struggled on offense the entire night.
After shooting just 20-percent from the floor in the first half, BHS (21-6) connected on four straight three-pointers to start the third quarter.
Later in the third period, an Alex Martinez three-pointer cut the Rams lead to 33-29.
BHS, which held Garces (19-9) to just 19 points in the second half, eventually tied things 50-50 on a driving basket by Josh Geary with two and a half minutes to go in the fourth quarter.
The score remained deadlocked, 52-52, as regulation time expired.
Neither team scored in the extra four-minute period until Whatley muscled his way inside for a short-range score with 1:51 left on the clock.
Ipreye Egbe responded for Garces 30 seconds later with a game-tying shot in the key.
BHS’ next offensive possession ended with Whatley picking up his fifth foul.
After defensive foul by Ryan McGee, Hatten sank a pair of free throws to give the Rams the lead for good with 42 seconds left.
Garces coach Brian Dignan was excited that his team was able to win the first ever SYC Tournament.
“I think it’s extremely special,” Dignan said. “Garces has a rich tradition and history of excellence in sports. Basketball, we’ve had our lull. It’s great to come in here and in our first opportunity for the conference tournament, to be champions. Hopefully gets us back on that track of championship play with our program.”
Geary finished with 16 points and Whatley had 13 points and six rebounds for BHS, which entered the game riding a 14-game winning streak.
“Give credit to Garces. They played really well tonight,” BHS coach Greg Burt said. “We just didn’t have it. It didn’t feel like we had it from the beginning tip. We battled back, got it tied. We could just never make that final play to get over the top.”
Girls Championship Game
Bakersfield 56, Tehachapi 37
THS: Bryant 5, Heier 9, Williams 3, Thurman 20
BHS: Linzie 9, Sanders 4, Key 6, Wandick 6, Hayden 18, Vaughn 10, Killebrew 3.
Boys Championship Game
Garces 57, Bakersfield 54 (OT)
Garces: Uphold 11, D’amato 4, Hatten 20, Egbe 14, Marshall 2, Sevier 4, Campbell 2.
BHS: Whatley 13, Ackerman 7, Geary 16, McGee 4, Martinez 6, Revecho 8.
Photos by Nick Ellis
