Under the Radar Game of the Week: Orange Glen 79, San Pasqual 60

<p>This week's under the radar game took me to Escondido for the Battle of Bear Valley Parkway.</p> <p>Orange Glen has dominated its in-city rival in recent years. The teams don't play each other each season, but the last time San Pasqual notched a win in the rivalry, George W. Bush was in office. </p> <p>But this year gave a glimmer of hope, as the Golden Eagles (9-15) are playing their best basketball in years under second-year head coach Erik Meek, and Orange Glen (13-10) is rebuilding after the best six-year stretch in program history. </p> <p>The Patriots, however, had no intentions on dropping a home game against San Pasqual, collecting a comfortable 79-60 victory.</p> <p>Here's your breakdown:</p> <h2>Under the Radar Game of the Week: Orange Glen 79, San Pasqual 60</h2> <h3>How'd it go down?</h3> <p>Orange Glen took control of the game from the opening tip, scoring the game's first 16 points. But San Pasqual ended the first quarter on a 20-9 run to trail by 5, 25-20. </p> <p>But the Patriots gradually pulled away in the second and third quarters, riding the hot hand of sophomores Adam Nieves, Christian Martinez and Tyler Meyers, to take a 68-43 lead into the final quarter. </p> <p>San Pasqual got solid efforts from its senior guard trio of Raymund Rodriguez, Vojo Danilovic and Vernel Fournier. </p> <h3>Player of the Game: 2021 F Tyler Meyers, 2021 W, Adam Nieves and 2021 G Christian Martinez, Orange Glen</h3> <p>Each of the Orange Glen sophomores took turns dominating stretches of the game. The 6-4 Meyers (17 points, 7-10 FG) dominated the paint against the bigger Golden Eagles players. Martinez hit four threes and is emerging as one of the top shooters in the San Diego class.  </p> <p>And the 6-3 Nieves dominated the game on both ends, scoring 18 points and providing stifling defense on San Pasqual's guards. </p> <h3>Best Prospect of the Game: Nieves, 2019 G Vernel Fournier, San Pasqual</h3> <p>Nieves is coming along nicely in his second varsity season. Last season, he was predominantly an energy guy and glass eater. This year, he's scoring comfortably on the perimeter. Nieves has nice length, a strong frame and is a nice athlete to boot. Once he becomes more comfortable taking guys off the dribble, his stock will rise even higher. </p> <p>Fournier, 6-0, has nice length and solid quickness with the ball. He gets downhill and into the paint and doubles capably as a scorer and a playmaker. Fournier tries to do too much at times, leading to turnovers. His frame is wiry, and he needs to get a little stronger to have an impact at the next level, but I could see him accomplishing that at the junior college level as a greyshirt candidate. </p> <h3>Underrated performance(s) of the game: 2019 G Vojo Danilovic, Raymund Rodriguez, San Pasqual</h3> <p>While Fournier might be a better long-term prospect, Danilovic and Rodriguez shouldered the scoring load for the Golden Eagles. Danilovic displayed some nice craft off the dribble and scored on floaters and runners and got to the foul line. Rodriguez, a 5-7 grid-hooper, was automatic off the catch from deep. </p> <h3>What this means for both teams?</h3> <p>Orange Glen is undefeated in the Pacific League, but currently sits in the 12th seed of the Division 1 playoffs. The Patriots, which play seven sophomores in their top 8 players, are building towards the future. In two years, they could be a threat to win the D1 playoffs. </p> <p>For San Pasqual, a Division 5 school that has had years of struggles, the future is now. Under Meek, who attended San Pasqual and played collegiately at Duke, the Golden Eagles have increased their win total from zero the season before his arrival to nine in his second year. Currently seeded 5th in the D5 playoffs, San Pasqual is a legitimate title contender. </p>