Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Gurdon Opens Basketball Season

Football season ended Nov. 12 for Gurdon's senior boys, with basketball season starting a scant four days later.

The hardcourt Go-Devils paid a visit to an old rival as Gurdon traveled to Prescott to kick the season off with a junior varsity game.

However, the Devils lack of pre-season work proved costly as the Curley Wolves posted a 63-58 win.

The Go-Devils won the opening tip but turned the ball over shortly thereafter.

Prescott did little better as the two squads showed signs of it being their first game.

The two teams played methodically in the early going, before Gurdon broke the deadlock with a fast break bucket to go up 2-0 at the 5:28 mark.

Then it became a track meet with the Devils using their speed to try and run the Wolves off the court.

With 3:16 showing the Devils were up 6-3, but began firing from beyond the arc with laser accuracy and quickly went up 12-5.

As the period progressed, Gurdon made Prescott pay for mental lapses and lazy passes as the Devils led 18-10 at the end of one.

The second quarter was evenly played between the squads with the Wolves shaving a single point from Gurdon's lead by halftime.

The pace was typical helter-skelter style for Gurdon as neither team substituted much.

During the first half, the Devils appeared to be the more sound of the two teams on the fundamentals as Gurdon executed well and made fewer mental mistakes.

With 4:50 left in the half, RaShaun Hopson broke free, raced downcourt and slammed one home, bringing the Devil faithful to their feet, while the Wolf fans were less than pleased.

On the other side of the ball, Prescott had chance after chance to keep the score closer, but had fits converting free throws.

Halftime arrived with the score 37-30, Gurdon.

Fatigue started catching up with the Devils in the third quarter, as several of the players had joined the roundball team from the grid squad.

Gurdon's football team had its season ended the Friday before, Nov. 19, and those players joining the basketball team had little practice.

Still, Gurdon opened the second half with a 6-2 run before the Wolves showed any sign of life.

At the 6:14 mark, Gurdon led 43-32 and was looking to break the game open.

The Devils were the more physical of the teams and extremely aggressive.

However, the Wolves were opening the season at home and had no intention of letting an old arch-enemy waltz in and whip them.

In spite of making mistakes, Prescott's boys never lost sight of their ultimate goal victory.

So, to make up for miscues, the Wolves fought harder and chipped away at Gurdon's lead.

With 2:49 left the Devils advantage had slipped to 45-41, with Prescott scoring the final three points of the period.

It helped Matt Brannon found his stroke from beyond the three-point line and fired trey after trey to bring Prescott closer.

As the final eight minutes began, Gurdon Coach John Ware was tagged with the games first technical foul for contesting an official's call.

This sent Brannon to the line for a pair of uncontested free throws. He cut the lead to 47- 46 and the Wolves retained possession.

Still, Gurdon managed to hold onto the lead at the 7:24 point at 49-48.

Prescott tied the game at 49-49 with 7:12 showing and took the lead, 52-50, at the 6:40 mark.

The Devils were nailed a second time with a "T" with 6:23 showing, again, sending Brannon to the line to add one more to Prescott's total.

From there the battle was on as both crews fought to gain the upper hand.

The difference in the game came down to Prescott's being in the gym longer than Gurdon and being in better basketball shape.

Gurdon's legs seemed to fail, while the Wolves were able to take advantage of the Devils' fatigue and pull away late.

With less than a minute left, Gurdon's Hopson cut the lead to 59-58, but those were the last points the Devils would score as Gurdon was forced to foul and Prescott hit the free throws when they counted.

SENIOR GIRLS

GURDON 57

Prescott's Wolverettes also opened the 1999-2000 season with a win, but not without a fight from the Lady Devils of Gurdon.

Though Prescott pulled to double-digit leads at times, the Lady Devils always fought back to keep the game close, but eventually fell 64-57.

It was said the Wolverettes did some showboating during the first half, which ended with the score 32-28.

The two teams were old rivals and knew one another's style of play. Neither had any new surprises for the other.

Gurdon was physical and bruising, while Prescott relied heavily on its speed. Both were aggressive.

The Wolverettes opened the second half scoring with a free throw and went on a run, pushing the lead to 44-33 with 3:38 showing.

Prescott's press forced Gurdon turnovers, but the Lady Devils showed plenty of grit and wouldn't go away.

With 1:33 left in the third, Gurdon had cut into Prescott's lead at 46-37, fighting harder with each tick to cut the gap to 48-42 with 0:28 showing.

At this point, Prescott's Jeanie Haynie fouled out, but the Wolverettes were able to hang onto a 50-42 advantage as the quarter ended.

In the final eight minutes, Traci Graham showed her stroke from various spots on the court, while Gurdon's defense did all it could to shut her and Andrea Cossey down.

The idea was to shut these two down and force the other Wolverettes to carry the load.

The Lady Devils showed talent from beyond the perimeter as they cut the gap to 52-47, then 52-49 and eventually to 55-54 before the Wolverette offense took control.

The Prescott pressure defense, when applied, forced turnovers, while the Lady Devils kept the lanes packed and forced the Wolverettes to shoot from the outside.

At one point in the fourth quarter, Prescott was playing 4-on-5 as one of the Wolverettes failed to report in after a break in the action.

As the game progressed, the Wolverettes were able to pull away and work the clock while preserving the victory.