Men’s basketball stifled by Jesuit at Sleep Train Arena

By Kellen Browning,
Bluedevilhub.com Editor-in-Chief–

New venue (Sleep Train Arena, home of the Sacramento Kings), new opponent (Jesuit 10-2 and 2-0 in league play), but the Davis High men’s basketball team was doomed by the same problem as Wednesday’s defeat at Elk Grove–poor shooting.

Despite getting plenty of good looks thanks to smart passing and great ball handling by senior point guard Kevin Austin, the Blue Devils (7-7, 0-2) struggled to connect from both the field and the line (where they shot 11-21) on Friday, Jan. 8, leading to a 75-55 loss to the Marauders.

DHS was ice-cold in the first quarter as Jesuit jumped out to a 21-6 lead, including four three-pointers. The Devils finally heated up in the second, outscoring Jesuit 20-16 and at one point cutting the gap to just 10.

After a 10-0 Marauder run midway through the third period, senior Ryan Kreidler (13 points) drew cheers from DHS crowd–which included the dance team, cheer team and pep band–after scoring back-to-back three-pointers, but his effort wasn’t enough as Jesuit finished the quarter with a 57-40 lead.

The fourth quarter was a relatively even, back-and-forth affair, but the Devils were never able to close the gap, thanks in part to the offensive rebounding and blocking ability of 6-foot-7-inch Jesuit senior Malik Duffy, who towered over even the tallest DHS defenders. Still, head coach Dan Gonzalez thinks his team fought hard against its powerhouse Delta League rival.

“You get rid of that first quarter, I thought we competed really well,” he said. “It’s tough playing catch-up ball and we were right there. It was nice to see it. Our guys were battling the entire way and I think it shows the character of this team.”

Gonzalez says his team will never forget having the opportunity to play at Sleep Train Arena, although he thinks that the change of venue may have contributed to the Devils’ shooting woes.

“I think the fact that we played in this arena made it tougher for what we liked to do, and that’s the perimeter shooting,” he said. “It’s tougher to shoot with a background difference, like when you get into an arena like this. We rely on that three, and we had a lot of the looks that we want, and they just didn’t go down.”

Someone who did shoot the three ball well was senior Glen Welch, who made four from distance and all five from the line to lead the Devils with 17 points. Senior Ben Prussel also finished with 13 points for DHS, which will face Sheldon at home on Wednesday, Jan. 13 in search of its first league win.