Prep Roundup; Local schools win tourney finales
By Sentinel Sports Staff
VISALIA -- The Hanford West High Huskies claimed third place in the Polly Wilhelmsen Invitational boys basketball tournament with an 82-60 trouncing of Golden West on Saturday night.
The Huskies (13-7) posted their highest finish ever in the 16-team tournament, building a 12-point halftime lead, weathering a Golden West surge in the third period and then blowing the game wide open in the fourth.
Warren Moon, an athletic 5-foot-11 junior forward, paced Hanford West with 16 points.
Senior post player Scooter Cole-man added 15 points and sophomore guard Rodney Webster added 11.
"We played really well,'' Hanford West coach Tim Caudillo said. "We were very unselfish and played really well as a team.''
Caudillo said point guard Roy Ramirez "had a great game on defense,'' and praised Coleman, who overcame early foul trouble to turn in a productive performance vs. the defending West Yosemite League champions.
Both players were selected to the all-tournament team.
Adrian Pascua led Golden West (7-6) with 15 points.
The Huskies avenged a 69-66 loss to Golden West in the Holiday Invitational Tournament in Fresno. The two teams will play twice more this season in league competition.
Porterville won the championship by defeating Redwood, with the Panthers' Oscar Velasquez being named tournament MVP. Kameron Hoyt of fifth-place Lemoore also gained all-tournament honors.
Lemoore nipped Monache 75-73 behind 17 points from Eugene Tillery. Hoyt scored 14 points and Cheyenne Alcala added 11 for Lemoore, which improved to 9-5.
Christian Diaz led Monache with 17 points.
Hanford 60, Hilo 58
KANOEOHE, Hawaii -- Beau Felder scored 17 points and collected 10 rebounds, and the Hanford Bullpups edged Hilo 60-58 to capture the consolation championship of the Merv Lopes Classic on Saturday.
Felder, a sophomore post player seeing extensive action because his older brother Barrett is injured, delivered a season-high scoring total as the Bullpups improved to 15-3.
D.J. Jackson had 10 points and 10 rebounds, and Eric Mechtly also had 10 points -- including a key basket late in the fourth quarter -- for Hanford.
Bullpups point guard Cougar Williams had nine points, 10 assists, five rebounds and four steals; and Zach Stewart tallied seven points for the Bullpups.
Hanford led 24-15 at the end of the first quarter and was up by as many as 13 points in the second quarter. But Hilo rallied, eventually taking a two-point lead before Hanford delivered down the stretch.
Jose Lizardi scored 13 points, and Chan Spikes and Nick Acosta added 10 points apiece for Hilo, which is from the Big Island of Hawaii.
Hanford finished 3-1 in the tourney -- its only loss being a seven-point decision to top-ranked Punahou in the opening round. Punahou, the No.1-ranked team in Hawaii, played OLG Counsel of Maryland for the tournament championship later Saturday.
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