Boulder Creek claims consolation crown in holiday tournament
MARC BUCKHOUT ~MANAGING EDITOR ~ 1/4/2012

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Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
Boulder Creek boys basketball coach Randy Walker cracked a grin in assessing his team’s 2-1 performance in the Jaguars inaugural Holiday Hoops Fest that concluded with the host team claiming the consolation title with a 57-35 win over Desert Edge on Thursday.
After losing the tournament opener to Raymond Kellis, 68-61 on Dec. 27, in a game in which senior forward Stephen Crim went down with an ankle sprain, Walker’s team rebounded by limiting two varsity basketball teams to less than 40 points on consecutive night.
“We’re doing it with rebounding and defense,” the coach said. “It might be considered ugly, but we’re trying to get it done whatever way we can get it done.”
Senior center Connor Kuchar, who stepped into the starting lineup in place of Crim, said the Jaguars have grown to enjoy and rally around their defensive identity.
“We just keep picking it up more and more,” he said. “We really focus on it in practice. Our coaches have instilled it in us. I think we all notice that when we play our best defensively that our opponents get frustrated. We’re able to take them out of their game.”
Showing off their defensive prowess the Jaguars jumped to a 13-5 lead at the end of the first quarter by limiting Desert Edge to 1-of-11 shooting (9 percent).
Boulder Creek would hit a lull offensively allowing the Scorpions to get within one three minutes into the second half at 26-25, but the Jaguars responded as the team’s star tandem of junior forward Josh Braun and senior guard Weston Newell ignited a 10-2 run with back-to-back three pointers.
From there Desert Edge never got closer than six points as the Jaguars limited the Scorpions to five points in the fourth quarter as the visitors managed only 2-of-15 shooting (13 percent).
Offensively Braun carried his team in the first half, accounting for 15 of his team’s 21 points.
“He’s just so steady,” Walker said. “He makes everything easier for his teammates.”
While Braun carried the load in the first half, hitting shots from the perimeter, the mid range and taking the ball to the basket, it was Newell who picked up his game in the second half.
The senior showed why he was an all-tournament selection by scoring nine of his 10 points in the second half. The guard pushed the Jaguars lead to 38-30 at the start of the fourth quarter on an offensive rebound putback. Along with their strong defense, Walker said rebounding has been a key to his team’s success.
For the game the Jaguars only shot 34 percent and committed seven more turnovers than Desert Edge, but because of their work on the boards they managed nine more shots than their opponent.
Kuchar scored four of his seven points on offensive rebound putbacks off Braun misses.
“He gets a lot of attention, so as long as you’re aggressive you’re going to have some chances for easy baskets,” Kuchar said.
Walker pointed out that even without Crim his team got 40 rebounds in their second game, a 44-32 win over a bigger, more athletic Hamilton team on Dec. 28. The rebounding
effort included 18 on the offensive glass.
At 10-3, the Jaguars will begin the 2012 portion of their schedule at 7 p.m., on Friday when then travel to Mesa to take on the Jackrabbits (6-6).
Along with getting Crim healthy Walker said he’s hopeful the team can find a way to improve their offense.  
At Cactus Shadows High School the Falcons will take a 7-4 mark into 2012 as they hit the road traveling to Phoenix for a Monday matchup against the 1-10 Moon Valley Rockets.
Through 11 games the Falcons have been balanced offensively with six players averaging at least eight points per game. Defensively Cactus Shadows, under first year coach Jamaal Scott are limiting opponents to 61 points per game.

GIRLS
The Jaguars went 3-2 in Arcadia’s Lady Titan Winter Hoops Classic to improve to 12-5 on the season.
In tournament play, which concluded on Dec. 28, Boulder Creek earned wins over
La Joya, Notre Dame and Cibola while suffering losses to Horizon and Liberty.
The Jaguars return to action on Tuesday when they host Westwind Prep Academy (0-14) before a more challenging matchup on Thursday when they host Sandra Day O’Connor (14-2). The Eagles won the first matchup between the two teams, 54-47, on Dec. 17.
At Cactus Shadows a young Falcons team continues to struggle to find offense. Ryan Pletnick’s club opens 2012 coming off a 49-23 loss in their final game of the Monsoon Classic.
Cactus Shadows (4-11) starts with a home game Monday against Moon Valley (10-5). Varsity basketball games start at 7 p.m.