Atwater High boys basketball coach Kanoa Smith felt there was a lack of energy and emotion when the Falcons lost to Merced last week in a key Central California Conference game. The Falcons coach took the blame and he was going to make sure it didn’t carry over this week.

 

A spirited Falcons team showed up at the Thunder Dome on Wednesday night and handed their cross-town rivals a 59-44 defeat to get back in the win column. Atwater excelled on the defensive end and seniors Sylas Austin (16 points) and A.J. Banks (12) led the way offensive as the Falcons improved to 14-9 overall and 4-1 in the Central California Conference.

 

“I’m a big believer in that players take on the personality of their coach and I didn’t bring it last week against Merced,” Smith said. “I wasn’t going to make that same mistake tonight against Buhach. I thought we played with a lot more energy and effort and it showed up on defense.”

 

The Falcons seized control in a second quarter that saw them outscore the Thunder (17-6 overall, 3-2 CCC) 15 to 5 to open up a 26-15 lead at the half. Jabari Jackson scored all five of his points in the second quarter to help lead the charge. Austin turned two offensive rebounds into baskets and Peter Idialu beat the buzzer at the end of the half to help build the lead up to 11 points.

“It felt good,” Austin said. “It feels like we’re headed in the right direction for the second round of league. We came out with more energy than last week. We came out flat against Merced. I think our chemistry was off against Merced. The game might have been too big for your young guys and myself.”

 

After watching the Falcons extend the lead to 17 points midway through the third quarter, Buhach Colony battled back to cut the lead to 38-28 with a 9-2 run. Hector Alcantar scored five of those points. However, the Falcons closed the third quarter with an 8-0 run with Austin finding Banks under the basket for another buzzer-beater to extend the lead back to 46-28 heading into the fourth quarter.

 

The game definitely had a big-game feel with two large student sections going back and forth at each other throughout the game. The rivalry has been tipped in Atwater’s favor the past six years with the Falcons winning 11 consecutive times. However, the Thunder’s strong start this season definitely caught the attention of teams around the CCC. “This is the first time in a while where both teams are good,” Smith said. “We’re both playoff teams so it’s a big game.”

 

Carter Chapman led Buhach Colony with 15 points and Elijah Garza added 13 points. Austin put an exclamation mark on the victory for the Falcons when he threw down a dunk midway through the fourth quarter on a fast break that brought his teammates and the Falcons crowd to their feet. “Dunking is literally why I still play basketball,” Austin said. “I love getting hyped and getting the crowd hyped.”

El Capitan 55, Los Banos 36 – Gauchos senior A.J. Jones scored 17 points and pulled down 14 rebounds as El Capitan won its second consecutive game to improve to 12-11 overall and 2-3 in the CCC. Jay Ervin added 13 points and four steals and Zach Owens scored 10 points for the Gauchos, who head to Merced on Friday to start the second half of the CCC schedule.

 

Merced 77, Golden Valley 49 – The Bears cruised to a victory to improve to 16-7 overall and 5-0 in the CCC. 

 

Livingston 60, Ceres 46 – The Wolves evened their Western Athletic Conference record at 4-4 and improved to 9-13 overall on the season.

Shawn Jansen is the MUHSD Program Manager Digital Media. He can be reached at Sjansen@muhsd.org.