Men’s basketball nets first league win against Monterey Trail

By Meseret Carver,
BlueDevilHUB.com Editor–

The Davis High men’s basketball team triumphed over the Monterey Trail Mustangs for their first win in the league with a 66-56 end score at the last game of the season. Davis was able to come back after losing to Monterey Trail earlier this season.

“The first time we played them, we let #10 tear us apart,” junior Nathan Critchfield said, remembering the loss.

This time, the Devils started the game with swift offense racking up six 3-pointers in the first half, hoping to get their first, and last, win of the league this season.

Senior Greg Silver said that the seniors knew they could win this game, even though they had been on a losing streak this season.

Toward the beginning, Davis seemed to be having a difficult time adjusting to the Mustangs’ aggressive offense but quickly recovered after senior Rowan Hart put Davis on the scoreboard, followed by a quick score by Silver.

Silver said the team had been working on defense for the past few weeks that was designed to keep teams from “driving to the basket easily.”

“We’d always say it was like a ‘sword fight’ because you would run at your teammate and try to make contact with his hip,” Silver said.

Juniors Reed Hessl, Gavin Schouten and sophomore Arcel Rusanganwa also stepped up in the second quarter by rolling out the 3-pointers, bringing the cumulative total in the first half to 38-30 with Davis in the lead.

By now the only problems on the court were the slick floors that seemed to dissatisfy the Mustangs. The game was paused twice in the first half to clean the wet spots on the floor.

In the second half, Davis strengthened its defense, keeping the score at a standstill for nearly half of the third quarter.

By then, tensions on the court were thick and bleeding into the bleachers as Monterey Trail girls screamed at the top of their lungs at every Devil free throw, under the glare of many Davis fans.

The tie was finally broken and the teams went on yet another fast-paced exchange of points, amounting to 54-44 with Davis ahead by the end of the third quarter.

The most action-packed quarter consisting of multiple time outs, referee calls and slams by Monterey Trail, started with another floor cleaning.

The energy in the room was escalating by the minute and the climax came when freshman Collin Yee shot a 3-pointer from the ground.

That was followed by another floor cleaning.

Davis won the game, 66-56.

“We played together, and we played with a sense of great pride that helped us pull the win we had been waiting for so long,” Critchfield said.