Boulder Creek defense stands tall in convincing win
MARC BUCKHOUT ~MANAGING EDITOR ~ 12/21/2011

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Gritty was one of the first words out of the mouth of senior guard Weston Newell’s mouth when asked to describe his team, following Boulder Creek’s 73-53 win over the Mountain Ridge Mountain Lions on Dec. 13.
The victory came on the heels of the team’s run to the finals of the Desert Edge Tournament, just three days earlier. The Jaguars played five games in five days, winning four, highlighted by a semifinal win over Regis Jesuit, a squad that has won three straight state titles in Colorado. Despite falling in the finals to Hoover High School from Alabama Newell said he is excited about his team’s start.
Newell said this year’s team, off to a 8-2 start, is beginning to remind him of the one he played on as a sophomore.
“If you remember we lost in the finals of a tournament that year and then we went on to win 20 in a row, and win the state championship,” Newell said.
Perhaps it’s still too early to draw such a parallel to the 2009-2010 team, which fell in the championship game of the Horizon Tournament to Scottsdale Christian in mid December before running the table, capped by a one-point victory over Chaparral in the 5A Div-II state championship, but at least early on there appears to be a lot to like about this year’s Jaguars.
The gritty quality Newell referenced is most obvious on the defensive end where the Jaguars stymied the visiting Mountain Lions, who managed to shoot only 36 percent from the field for the game, while never scoring more than 16 points in any quarter
Junior forward Josh Braun, who has been the team’s leading scorer in the season’s early going, said the Jaguars defense can get better, but that the effort has been strong.
“We’re trying to make things as hard as we can for other teams,” he said. “We play the percentages. We know that you make a much higher percentage of your shots from under the basket than you do when you’re forced to make shots from the perimeter.”
Taking on the task of keeping opposing players from getting near the basket are a host of quick perimeter defenders led by the likes of Newell, senior guard Randyll Roberts and sophomore Tyler Whitney.
Going into the season coach Randy Walker acknowledged he wasn’t sure if he’d have the depth to implement much full court pressing, but to this point he has seen bench players step up and said the pressing defense has become a strength.
“I don’t think they realize how good we can be defensively,” Walker said. “I’m not completely happy, but I’ve been encouraged by what I’ve seen.”
On the offensive end of the floor Braun looked like the proverbial bull in a china shop against the Mountain Lions defense. One defender after another bounced off the 6-foot-4 forward who attacked the offensive glass like a lion devouring a fresh kill on his way to 19 points.
While the Mountain Lions were limited to primarily a perimeter team, one Jaguar after another aggressively drove to the basket. If they didn’t finish plays by scoring or getting to the free throw line they followed Braun’s lead and attacked the offensive glass, getting multiple second chance opportunities despite the fact that there starting lineup has nobody taller than 6-foot-4.
“It’s more of a question of will,” Newell said. “You’ve got to want the ball.”
One of the players that has answered the bell in the season’s early going has been senior forward Stephen Crim. After playing a reserve roll a season ago Crim’s game has expanded as a senior.
“He has probably been our most consistent player so far,” Walker said.
In the win over Mountain Ridge the 6-foot-2 forward chipped in with 17 points, right behind Newell’s game-high 21 and Braun’s 19. The senior did the majority of his work around the basket, showing a knack for making himself available to receive passes from driving teammates and also hitting the offensive boards aggressively.
A day after holding Mountain Ridge to eight first quarter points, in pushing out to an early lead, the Jaguars limited North Canyon to six first quarter points as Boulder Creek rolled to a 66-34 blowout of the Rattlers.
The Jaguars return to action Tuesday when they begin play in their own tournament, the 2011 Holiday Hoops Fest. The event, which includes Gilbert Christian, Gilbert, Desert Edge, Desert Mountain, Hamilton and Raymond Kellis locally and then Harlan High School out of Chicago runs through the 7 p.m. championship game on Dec. 29.
Boulder Creek opens the event by playing Raymond Kellis at 7 p.m., Tuesday.