DHS men finish strong in tight victory over Grant

By Bram Goldstein,

HUB Correspondent-

In their first home game of 2013 divisional play, the high scoring DHS men’s varsity basketball squad continued their good start to the season with a resilient underdog victory over the visiting Pacers.

From the tipoff to the final buzzer, the game remained tight and full of excitement.

Aside from a quick run towards the end of the first quarter that put Grant up 23-16, the first half consisted of back and forth offensive bursts from both sides to keep the DHS deficit fairly level and put the halftime tally at 42-36.

The 3^rd quarter did not stray too far off the path created by the first half in the sense that neither team held a clear advantage. However, the Devils managed to reach within one point of the Pacer lead by the end of the quarter.

DHS found new life in the 4^th, as they used the first 4 minutes to pull ahead to a comfortable 74-65 lead, at which point Grant called a timeout.

After a minute of sideline scheming, a rejuvenated Pacer offense, led by star guard De’Sean Parsons(led Grant with 37 points), quickly tied the game back up at 75 before the locals called a time out of their own.

With 3 minutes left on the clock, the Blue Devils took to the court once again, ready to finish the game off for the home crowd.

DHS’ Grant Dickerson immediately came out and hit an uncontested jumper from the floor. After this, DHS sent Parsons to the line for his 13^th and final time. He made the first free throw but knocked the second one off the side of the rim. The score was 77-76, Davis.

For the next minute both teams wasted a few possessions, and Blue Devil Head Coach Dan Gonzalez called his final time out.

With 40 seconds left on the clock, Blue Devil point guard Hayden Russell(led DHS with 21 points) passed the ball off to perimeter specialist Brandon Strong who sunk his 4^th 3-pointer of the night to put the Devils up by 4.

With under 30 seconds left on the clock, the Pacers made a frantic attempt to undo Davis’ 2 possession lead, but had no such luck as the Devils finished off their upset victory: 80-76.

With wins over Grant and Elk Grove: teams that usually top the divisional leaderboards, DHS has further proved that this year, they are a team that can, and will contend.

“The Delta Valley Conference is difficult to win, we’re all very close”,  coach Dan Gonzalez said. “This game could have gone either way, but that’s 2 nights in a row that we’ve been able to get off wins, and it’s hopefully a sign of our character”.