Chris Helms soars in for a slam dunk for Paloma Valley. (Photo by Action Captures Media)
By Jacob Pitcock, Correspondent
The Paloma Valley High School boys basketball team bounced back from previous losses with a 67-48 win in their home opener Tuesday night against JW North.
The Wildcats were looking to respond after back-to-back close losses to Glendale and Calvary Baptist, and they started the game hot. They jumped out to a quick 5-0 lead, setting the pace of the game early on.
Paloma Valley’s opportune defense allowed them to stifle JW North and gave them solid opportunities to score on the other end. Despite this, the Huskies kept the game relatively close, primarily with 3-pointers. But with the hot hands of Chris Helms and Anthony Medrano, the Wildcats saw themselves leading 20-15 at the end of the first quarter.
Helms and Medrano finished the game with 19 points and 12 points, respectively, and forward Jordan Ahmatt rounded out the three leading scorers with 16 points himself.
The second quarter started the same as the first, with Paloma scoring a quick four and looking to extend the lead. JW North did not allow them to do so, however. For every bucket the Wildcats hit, the Huskies would respond, keeping the game within a reasonable distance. If it wasn’t for their subpar free throw shooting, the Huskies could have brought the game even closer; in the first half, they shot 2 for 10 from the line. The halftime lead was 33-23 for the Wildcats.
The third quarter opened up with overall sloppy play from both sides. After a pair of free throws from both the Wildcats and Huskies, the game entered a bit of a lull. Both sides traded multiple turnovers with neither being able to fully capitalize.
Eventually North started to claw back, cutting the Wildcats’ lead down to 5. But as the momentum began to shift, Ahmatt hit a 3-pointer to get the crowd and his team back into the game. Toward the end of the third quarter, Paloma entered into a zone and finished out the period with a 46-39 lead.
Paloma Valley broke out with a 9-0 run to extend their lead to 54-39 to start the fourth quarter, characterized by stingy defense and great ball movement on the offensive end.
Coach Derrick O’Neil touched on his team’s unselfishness after the game.
“I was impressed with the ball movement,” he said. “What a lot of people didn’t know going into this game, our starting point guard Rey Rivas was out for a few weeks with a fractured hand, so we didn’t know how we were gonna respond to that. The tenacity they played with tonight and the ability to share the ball impressed me most.”
As the fourth quarter rolled on, North looked to cut into the lead through a few Wildcat turnovers, but to no avail. A couple late Paloma 3-pointers sealed the Huskies’ fate and give the Wildcats a much-needed victory.
“I think this game was huge for us, especially coming off a few losses and this being our first home game of the season,” O’Neill said. “We wanted to come out and give our fans a good performance.”
Anthony Medrano drives to the basket for the Wildcats. (Photo by Action Captures Media)
Jordan Ahmatt shoots from the outside. (Photo by Action Captures Media)
Chris Helms takes an outside shot on his way to 19 points. (Photo by Action Captures Media)
Ayden Garcia tries to keep his balance while handling the ball. (Photo by Action Captures Media)
Devin McFall drives to the basket for the Wildcats. (Photo by Action Captures Media)
