Gators clinch playoffs berth

Mike Sims

Wednesday, Jan. 26, 2005 | 10:29 a.m.

When a team has 14 turnovers by halftime, it usually doesn't look like the outcome is going to be very impressive. But for the Green Valley boys' basketball team, it wasn't too much to overcome to clinch the first playoffs berth this year.

Tuesday night the Gators pulled out their ninth consecutive division win, this time a 75-53 victory against Foothill (9-10). Despite sloppy play early, Green Valley improved to 15-5, thanks in large part to forward Matt Gonzales, who dropped 28 points on the Falcons.

"We didn't play very well in the first half," Green Valley coach Adam Patai said. "They came out and took it to us. They are a very good team and well coached."

Foothill's pressure defense for the 12 minutes kept the Gators from scoring at will.

Alex Ortega's 3-pointer early in the second quarter gave the Falcons their largest lead of the game at 20-14.

"We came out excited," Falcons coach Kevin Soares said. "They came out man-to-man, and they had a hard time guarding us."

But that marked the end of Foothill's dominant quarter-and-a-half performance and the beginning of Green Valley's 15-3 run.

"They ripped us in the middle of the floor early in the game," Patai said. "We weren't ready to play in at first."

Billy White started the Gators' run by scoring six points in a row. Green Valley held the Falcons to two field goals the rest of the half.

Green Valley really got the fans going late in the second quarter, when Jordan Ragan stole the ball, dribbled up the court and threw a behind-the-back pass to White for a slam dunk and a 27-23 lead.

White finished the game with 17 points and eight rebounds.

"We have this self-induced pressure," Patai said. "We put pressure on ourselves to play to our potential. You have to play that way when you play quality programs like Foothill."

Green Valley put the pressure on Foothill in the third quarter, increasing its lead to 16 points on Gonzales' layup with 2:15 left.

Foothill's Kevin Kreier scored six of his 17 points on back-to-back 3-pointers late in the third quarter to cut the Gators' lead to 54-42. Kreier led all Falcons in scoring and added eight rebounds and five steals.

"We tried to beat them with quickness, but we just got worn down in the second half," Soares said. "We had no big guys down low, and they switched to a zone defense in the second half, which was a smart move."

Green Valley took its largest lead at 67-44 on a 3-point play by Gonzales with 4:28 left in the game.

Patai said it wasn't going to get any easier for the Gators, who play Thursday at Basic, and mentioned that the Wolves have been knocking off some pretty good teams. Basic beat Silverado on Tuesday to move into a three-way tie for second place in the Southeast.