Ukiah has too much energy and fire power for Casa

Ukiah combined some game-long energy with a flurry of 3-point shooting to convincingly defeat Casa Grande, 72-53, on Tuesday night. The visiting Wildcats appeared to beat the Gauchos to most of the early contested balls to set the tone in the first half, and they left the floor with a 39-28 advantage at intermission.

Led by smooth senior shooting guard Nate Hale, the Ukiah club responded to every counter attack with a long ball from outside the arc. Hale rimmed 16 points in the first half, including four shots from distance. By the time the game was finally decided in the final stanza, the hot-shooting Wildcats had converted on 11 3-point shots, and it made the difference in the game.

Casa came back in the second half to make a contested game of it, led by senior Robbie Sheldon. Sheldon got into a hot streak with 10 points in the third period, and the Gauchos gave the home folks hope by cutting the margin to seven points. Sheldon connected on five of seven shots in the stanza.

It would be the first of a couple times Casa Grande would slice into the Ukiah advantage. Its second push, highlighted by a 2-point flush by center JJ Anderson, narrowed the count to seven points once more, but the Wildcats countered with a 3-pointer by Keegan Bebee.

Anderson had one terrific sequence after his dunk when he altered a shot by Diego Reyes and then swatted one out of bounds on a second Wildcat shot attempt.

The 6-6 center finished with a team-high 15 points, but his presence in the painted area was even more effective. Anderson altered countless Ukiah shots, and cleanly blocked four other attempts. In one flurry under the basket, Anderson altered four consecutive shots by determined Wildcats along the baseline. It was the most complete game of the season turned in by the Casa senior, who led both teams with 11 rebounds.

Sheldon tossed in 13 points, but he was shut down after most of his shots dropped in the third period. Jordan Smith rimmed nine points for the Gauchos who slipped to 2-3 in the North Bay League. Smith had some good moments in the third stanza with his ball handling and sudden ability to find the basket.

Hale began the contest leading his club in season scoring with an average of 11.5 points per game. He demonstrated a smooth-shooting stroke almost immediately, and frustrated the Gauchos with balanced scoring from both sides of the key against man and zone defenses. He finished the game with 22 points.

Forward Sammy Mora came off the bench to toss in 17 points as the Wildcats improved to 2-3 in NBL play.

The Wildcats looked anything like a team with an overall record of 6-11 as they were fresh from upsetting Cardinal Newman last week.

“It could be that we are stepping up to another level,” said a pleased coach Jeff Silva Brown.

There were times in the second half when Casa Grande appeared to up its energy level, and the crowd responded only to have their hopes dashed with another 3-point shot by Ukiah.

Ukiah also captured the junior varsity contest by holding off Casa in the late moments 50-41.