Boulder Creek holds on in Round-1 of OPEN

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Wednesday, February 19th I watched #7 seed<strong> Boulder Creek</strong> host <strong>#26 Red Mountain</strong> in the 1st round of the OPEN state playoffs. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>BC led from start to finish but it was only a 5-point game at halftime. RM would stay in but still was losing by 8-12 most of the game and could not get over the hump. Every big shot by RM, BC would counter with their own. Big games from [player_tooltip player_id='1323296' first='Matt' last='Delgado'], [player_tooltip player_id='1150843' first='Andrew' last='Bhesania'] and RM's [player_tooltip player_id='2717233' first='Travon' last='Darby']. Boulder Creek held on to win <strong>66-52</strong>.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Here were the standouts of the round-1 OPEN playoff game</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1323296' first='Matt' last='Delgado'] Boulder Creek&nbsp;</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>One of the standouts of the night was Delgado. He poured in 21 points with driving swooping layups in traffic, spin moves to the basket, offensive rebound put backs and hit a few threes off the catch. He rebounded well in his area and will also drive and kick it to a teammate.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1150843' first='Andrew' last='Bhesania'] Boulder Creek&nbsp;</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The bigger forward plays the 3-5 for the Jaguars. He rebounds well in and out of his area and can bang with other post players. He is a versatile scorer with spin moves into a counter move, hit the corner three, uses the floater and dunk it on the break. His ability to handle it at his size makes it easier for him. He scored 14 points.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1464983' first='Mick' last='Riordan'] Boulder Creek&nbsp;</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A highly skilled combo guard has a pretty shooting stroke from the three point line with range and a quick trigger. He handles the ball well enough to get his own shot off and get to his spots. He uses the floater game and plays from the neck up as he often changes speeds. He scored 9 points.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1591738' first='Jeehzus' last='Pagan'] Boulder Creek</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A fast lead guard was handling the heavy ball pressure and is extremely quick laterally with fast hands to rip pockets. He will score with catch threes and guides the team nightly. He scored 6 points.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1680984' first='Kaleb' last='Conley'] Boulder Creek&nbsp;</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The bigger wing forward is really stepping up his game this year. He uses his size to score inside or get fouled and boxes out well to rebound at a good clip. He will also step out and shoot the three off the catch. He scored 8 points.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1494764' first='Brayden' last='Newton'] Boulder Creek</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>An active and quick combo guard relives a lot of pressure off of Riordan and Pagan. He handles the ball well and he will defend a couple positions. He scores with threes off the catch and made some clutch free throws in the last minute. He scored 8 points.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2717233' first='Travon' last='Darby'] Red Mountain&nbsp;</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A bigger lead combo guard had a great showing. He scored 17 points with the defense shading over to him most of the game. He hits big shots with deep threes, fall aways from 15-feet, tough and-1 contact takes and gets himself to the free throw line with a tight handle and his size. He is also very good on the ball defensively.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1337025' first='Drew' last='Hall'] Red Mountain</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The defense was also focusing on Hall and the bigger point guard found his teammates in stride with pocket passes and drive and kicks. He rebounds well with his size and will score with offensive rebound put backs and advanced body control layups.&nbsp;He scored 6 points with multiple assists. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2717309' first='Anthony' last='Gamba'] Red Mountain</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A highly skilled combo guard with some size. He will rattle in threes off the catch and he can pull-up from mid-range as he can put it on the deck and get fouled or score it at the basket. His size, skill and handle allow him to achieve many of his abilities. He scored 11 points.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2781332' first='Bjorn' last='Molenaar'] Red Mountain&nbsp;</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The big man had a nice showing, He showed off his athleticism with an impressive almost poster dunk in the lane. He rebounds well, will block shots and score with put backs and hook shots. He scored 7 points.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2781335' first='Kwontis' last='Davis'] Red Mountain&nbsp;</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A newcomer for me is a long and twitchy wing forward who can play some two. He is athletic to rebound and score with offensive rebound put backs and has the skill to hit the three off the catch. He scored 5 points.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->