Casa offers hoop preview in scrimmage

High school basketball is only a few days away from its official opening as Casa Grande and visiting Middletown broke the seal with a briskly played controlled scrimmage on Tuesday evening in the Gaucho gym.

Both teams showed quick ball movement in four quarters of play with a surprising lack of turnovers for early in the campaign. The closely played contest will not be recorded on the record of either team.

According to the rules, only scoring by quarter was allowed, with the host Gauchos coming out on top for the first three stanzas while Middletown roared back down the stretch to leave some focused fans wondering which team might have won a real game between the two schools.

Coaches Jake Lee of the Gauchos and G.J. Rockwell of Middletown rotated all of their players into the quick-paced affair that was supervised by regular CIF officials. In the final period, a third official was rotated in to help to move the play along.

Several combinations of players were used by Lee as only a few starters were rotated back into the contest in the late minutes.

Fans left with several key takeaways from the four quarters of play. Among them was the outstanding play of Mustang sophomore Andreas Cervantes, who drove the lane with clever ball handling on several occasions and came up with hoops that kept his club in the hunt.

The ball movement by the host Gauchos was mostly on target, and they looked for one extra pass on many possessions that gave teammates a better opportunity to score. Casa is not blessed with overall team height and that kind of energy will have to keep them in upcoming games on the schedule. Reserve Gabe Sullivan, at 6 feet, 4 inches, is the tallest Gaucho, and he scored four points in the second quarter.

Solid outside shooting kept the Gauchos from giving up their advantage in the early going as they converted 9-of-17 3-point opportunities going into the final stanza.

Sharp-shooting junior Garrett Siebels found the range from outside and had a game-high 20 points. Eleven of his points came in the third quarter when the Gauchos outscored their guests 20-13. Siebels railed three shots from distance in that stretch. Kevin Cadle added seven points for Casa.

Senior interior player Josh Jovick struggled with his close-in shooting early in the scrimmage, but battled underneath for six points and four rebounds. Jovick also converted a drive to a lay-up for a teammate in recording a notable assist.

Nine players appear to have an opportunity to make the regular Gaucho playing rotation. It might depend on the hot hand for each contest.

Middletown was awarded a pair of free throws after time elapsed in the scrimmage, which only added to the closeness of the competition.

Five players who double in football were missing from the Middletown roster as the Mustangs are still in the running for the Division 4 football playoff crown. Casa Grande did not floor two of the regular grid players scheduled to be on the club.

Casa Grande has two weeks to further sharpen its game before it travels to Novato on Nov. 28 to face San Marin.