Paloma Valley’s Rey Rivas (11) is guarded by Heritage’s Kendall Sampson (5). (Photo by Brian Thornton)
The Paloma Valley boys basketball team took down the Heritage Patriots on Wednesday night by a final score of 70-48. The game was filled with scoring from both sides as well as highly contested matchups around the court. Both teams showed aggressive play on both sides of the ball.
The game started off strong with Heritage jumping out right off the gun with a long-range 3-pointer from junior Ivan Clark, assisted by Diego Mokensto. Paloma Valley answered almost immediately with back-to-back baskets in the paint, which would give them the lead. The Wildcats continued to extend it throughout the course of the game.
It was very clear that the Wildcats’ game plan was to score inside the paint, as they only took a total of nine 3-pointers the entirety of the game. Head coach Derrick O’Neil talked about their game plan.
“We just wanted to take whatever they gave us,” O’Neil said. “We knew the game plan coming into tonight and knew that they were gonna be very aggressive defensively, so we just wanted to take what the defense gave us.,”
O’Neil was definitely right about that, as the Patriots were letting the Wildcats into the paint nearly every possession and letting the Wildcats use that to their advantage.
Junior guard Rey Rivas was the leading scorer of the night for the Wildcats, putting up a stat line of 16 points and two assists. It seemed almost every offensive possession, Rivas was able to create some sort of play for the Wildcats to score.
“Rey was actually out for a few games, and we saw how valuable he was to our team, so him coming out and just being our second-year starter, his leadership is very valuable to us on the floor,” O’Neil said.
Rivas wasn’t the only valuable player on the night for the Wildcats. The top defensive player was senior center Tino Yuen, who had a record of two blocks, one steal, and two defensive rebounds.
For the Patriots, it was very clear their game plan for the game was to play small ball and take shots from beyond the arc. They accounted for 16 3-point attempts. Out of those 16 attempts, they converted 8. This wasn’t enough for them, as their shots attempted inside the line often fell short.
The top scorer for the Patriots was junior guard Clark, who had a total of 23 points.
It seemed like he was almost automatic whenever he took a 3-pointer; Clark had a 73 percent 3-point percentage. Clark also had help from Mekonsto, who had 12 points, four assists, and an offensive rebound.
The Wildcats improved their record to 8-11 on the season. The will try to pad the win column when they take on Vista del Lago at home Friday night. The Patriots’ record falls to 9-8 on the season. They look to learn from this game and change their fortunes when they face Lakeside High at home on Friday night.
Anthony Medrano puts up a shot in a crowd. (Photo by Brian Thornton)
Devin McFall shoots as Heritage’s Ivan Clark (10) defends. (Photo by Brian Thornton)
A double team including Heritage’s Diego Mekonsto (4) surrounds a Paloma Valley player. (Photo by Brian Thornton)
Wildcats coach Derrick O’Neil talks to his players during a timeout. (Photo by Brian Thronton)
