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Yosemite goes 1-3 at Granite Hills basketball tourney

Badgers explode for 100 points against Mountain Empire High School

Greg Dodderidge

(Updated: Thursday, January 05, 2012, 4:58 PM)

The Yosemite High boys varsity basketball team (6-8) headed south after Christmas to participate in the 10-team Granite Hills Holiday Tournament in El Cajon near San Diego Dec. 27-30. The Badgers went 1-3 in the tournament including a 100 pointy outburst against Mountain Empire High School.

"We had a good tournament overall," said head coach Aaron Eames. "The tournament was very competitive and we played hard every game. We are getting better in every phase of the game as the season goes on. Our biggest adjustment is learning to master our man to man defense."

The Badgers played a zone defense under former coach Mark Siverly.

"As we improve on defensive fundamentals we will get more wins consistently," Eames said. "We had solid outings against good competition. Our offense wasn't a big problem, especially on the last tournament game."

The trip down south was 14-hours, round trip and when players spend that much time together over four days, that helps create a stronger team bond.

"This was a great road trip" Eames said. "This will make us a much more cohesive group."

"We had a blast on this trip," said Cory Skerce, senior guard. "We played good teams and really put it together on our last game. We also had a lot of fun. We went to the beach, toured the USS Midway carrier, and saw the Cal-Texas Holiday Bowl parade. The trip really brought us together."

Yosemite vs. Granite Hills (El Cajon)

The Badgers played the host Eagles of Granite Hills (4-7) in their opening game Dec. 27 with the Eagles blowing out Yosemite 65-35.

Yosemite fell behind quick with the Eagles taking a quick 18-4 lead after the first quarter, although the Badgers came back and outscored the Eagles 20-15 in the second quarter, finding themselves down nine at half, 33-24.

The combination of the Eagles playing tough defense and cold shooting by Yosemite generated just 11 points in the second half for the Badgers.

Jannik Hartman and Cory Skerce were responsible for 20 of the Badgers 35 points, scoring 10 each.

Granite Hills' Scott Atkins was the game's leading scorer with 26 points.

Yosemite vs. Foothills Christian (El Cajon)

The Badgers next played the Knights of Foothills Christian (5-8) Dec. 28. Playing a much better game, the Badgers were defeated 65-52.

Yosemite played the Knights straight up in the first quarter, 19-19. The Badgers only managed 11 points in the second quarter and went into halftime down 36-30. Yosemite would not get closer the rest of the game.

The Badgers managed only eight fourth quarter points, but played a good Knight squad close.

"We didn't quit," Eames said. "Games like this against strong competition will only get us more prepared for league play."

Jason Pol and Skerce led Badger scorers with 11 points each. Luke Blate had 9 points and Justin McMillen and Hartman had 7 points each and Robert Mascola added 5..

Yosemite vs. Kearny High (San Diego)

The Badgers started strong the third night of the tournament, but struggled in the second and third quarters, falling to the Komets of Kearny High (9-4) 62-54.

Yosemite led 16-14 after the first quarter but scored only 9 points in the second period, falling behind 28-25 at the half.

Yosemite came out cold in third period, again scoring just 9 points to 16 for the Komets. The Badgers were down 44-34 going into the fourth period of play.

Although the Badgers played the Komets even in the fourth quarter, they could not overcome the 10-point lead.

Pol led all Badger scorers with 19 points and Skerce had 17 points and 8 assists. Blate and Mascola added 6 points each.

Yosemite vs. Mountain Empire (Pine Valley)

After three loses, the Badgers were determined not to make the long trip without coming home with at least one win. And win they did. The Badgers put it all together in record setting fashion defeating the Redhawks of Mountain Empire High (4-8) 100-49.

It is the highest scoring game in Yosemite boys basketball history.

The night before Kearney Hill defeated the Redhawks 83-22. The team has had 100 or more points scored on them three times this season.

Yosemite had a 56-17 lead at halftime.

Six Badgers scored in double figures. Skerce had his highest outing of the year with 26. Hartmann had 16,McMillen and Mascola each had 13 and Japeth Cruz had a season best 12 points.

Badgers host Fresno High Jan. 11

Yosemite will host Fresno High on Jan. 11 and McLane Jan. 13 before a tough Sierra comes to town to open league play on Tuesday, Jan. 17. JV games start at 5:30 p.m. and the varsity plays at 7 p.m.

The first time for Badger fans to see all four Yosemite teams play at home will be Friday, Jan. 27 Chowchilla visits Oakhurst. Game times are girls JV (4 p.m.), boys JV (5:15 p.m.), girls varsity (6:30 p.m.) and boys varsity (8 p.m.).

Lady Badgers go 2-2

The Yosemite girls varsity team (4-7) also made a trip south to play in the Southern California Holiday Classic Tournament, coming home with wins against Mission Hills (40-34) and Coronado (31-24), while dropping games to San Dimas (63-57) and Mission Prep (53-42).

Against Mission Hills, Sierra Dominici had 16 points, 7 steals and 3 rebounds. Julia Walsh added 10 points and 4 steals while Kaley Mumm had 11 rebounds to go with her 6 points.

In the loss to San Dimas, Dahlia Lopez had her best game of the season, combining for 16 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals.

Mumm had 14 points and Dominici added 11 along with 4 steals and 4 assists. Veronica Miller grabbed 10 rebounds along with 5 points and 2 assists.

Taylor Jackson had 36 points for San Dimas.