A 15-3 run to close out the third quarter eliminated a seven-point Sierra High deficit and propelled the Timberwolves to a 62-56 victory over Golden Valley High Friday.
The Timberwolves seized control of the back-and-forth contest in the third, yet had to fend off a last-ditch effort from the Cougars in the fourth. A 3-pointer from Eric Melgar followed by a four-point play on a made 3-pointer and foul from Emmanuel Elijah put Sierra up 58-50, but Golden Valley would be back.
The Cougars answered with a late spark from post-presence Joshua Sykes. Sykes would score on consecutive trips and a 3-pointer from Evan Stillahn closed the gap to two points.
The Timberwolves (6-3) closed it out with clutch free throw shooting from Melgar and a costly blown Golden Valley possession in the final 30 seconds.
“I felt like I had to be in attack mode for our team to get in the flow of the offense,” Melgar said. “I was hitting my shots and it helped my confidence.
“We talked about doing better on the defensive end and trying to stop some of their success from the perimeter.”
Melgar, who poured in 18, was exceptional for the Timberwolves from the opening quarter to the game’s waning moments. He hit a pair of 3-pointers in the first half and continued with positive impact throughout. Senior standout Guillermo Nunez did not have his customary contributions, but Elijah (game-high 21 points), Jonnythan Munkholm and Justin Patton combined forces to give Sierra all it would need.
“We had some good spurts in that second half and were able to get some hands on some balls,” Sierra head coach Scott Thomason said. “We were able to get out and run a little bit and make some easy buckets. I was just disappointed in the way we started.
“Our post guys were a little timid at first; I think we were intimidated by (Sykes), he’s a good player.”
Sykes finished with 14 points, but wasn’t able to make the substantial impact on the contest that Golden Valley (10-4) would have liked. The Cougars have been under the whistle for five games in five days, making the final moments of the fifth game a challenge most teams will never face.
“We lost a tough game last night and we played great until the last two minutes,” Golden Valley head coach Keith Hunter said. “So as a coach you wonder if we could answer the bell tonight and we did that. We performed and I am proud of our guys for that. We’re tired, I tried to sub, we subbed 11 guys. There was a stretch in that third quarter where we had kids on the court that hadn’t played in a while.
“We didn’t execute at the end and it hurt; but it was fun. Scotty does a great job, he may be the best coach in the area so we always want to play them.”
Freshman
Sierra 64, Golden Valley 40
The Timberwolves cruised to an easy win over the Golden Valley Cougars, beating them by 24 Friday at home.
Daniel Wyatt and Brian Terrell both finished in double-figures with a dozen leading Sierra.
