Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Gurdon Jr. Teams Falter In Tournament

Who let the dogs out?

This is the question asked by Stephens fans as the Waldo junior Bulldogs handed the Roadrunners a 54-38 loss to capture the 7AA Central junior title Saturday night at Gurdon.

Lewisville managed to outlast Nevada in a back-and-forth game giving the Lady Red Devils the district crown in the early game.

In all, these two games were the culmination of the week-long tournament.

The Dogs started gnawing at the Roadrunners in the opening quarter, using their superior height and speed to build a 16-6 lead.

Still, it took almost two minutes before either team showed they could score at all.

In fact, with 3:49 showing, the score was tied at 3-3. However, the Dogs started running and gunning, outscoring Stephens 13-3 for the remainder of the quarter.

The second six minutes was much like the opening six, with neither scoring early. The major difference was neither scored much late either.

At halftime, Waldo held a 25-10 lead over Stephens, with the worst yet to come.

The Dogs opened the third as they had the other two, by scoring first.

Stephens made the mistake of trying to catch up by shooting from the outside. This only let Waldo start using the fast break, and use it the Dogs did as they pushed their lead to 36-18.

The pattern of Waldo scoring first ended in the fourth as Stephens opened the period with a three-pointer.

For awhile, the teams swapped buckets, each matching the other.

The teams played evenly, with the Dogs getting sloppy late and turning the ball over several times.

The junior girls's final opened with the Lady Blue Jays of Nevada scoring first, but falling behind the Lady Red Devils of Lewisville. From there it was back and forth with the Devils pulling out a narrow 47-46 win.

The Lady Jays opened the game looking to run. However, neither they nor Lewisville were able to put the ball in the hole on a regular basis early on.

As the quarter wound down, both teams found their stroke, with the Lady Devils forcing Nevada turnovers by using the full court press.

Lewisville led 16-10 at the end of one, and scored first to get the second quarter started.

The Lady Devils, in fact, built a 13-point lead early in the second, until the Lady Jays decided they'd better play ball or get whipped good.

The Lady Jays rallied, tying the game at 23-23 with 3:53 to go in the half. From there it was back and forth with Nevada taking a 29-27 lead to the lockers at halftime.

After missing to open the second half, the Lady Jays pulled down a Lewisville miss and scored on a fast break.

Nevada built a 33-27 lead, before the Lady Jays started having control problems. On five straight possessions, the Lady Jays literally threw the ball to opposing players.

This allowed Lewisville to get back in the game.

Period three ended with the Lady Jays hitting a shot at the buzzer to go up 38-37.

The Lady Devils went back to the full court press with success, as the Lady Jays turned the ball over.

The thing was, neither team could put the other away. Both swapped baskets when they didn't lose possession on a walk or throwing the ball away.

Lewisville managed to take a three point lead at 47-44, only to see the Lady Jays score with 14.6 seconds left in regulation.

The Lady Devils in bounded the ball and held it for nine seconds before being fouled by the Lady Jays. Lewisville missed the front of a one-and one, with Nevada pulling down the board.

The Lady Jays had a chance to win the game at the buzzer, only to have the shot blocked.

Nevada made it to the finals by edging Gurdon's Lady Devils 48-44 in the semifinal game Thursday, Feb. 8.

The Lady Jays got off to a fast start, leading 6-2 with 4:52 left in the first, but let Gurdon back in the game.

Period one ended with Nevada up 12-10.

Both teams scored 16 in the second quarter, as Gurdon fought to stay close and try to steal the win.

The Lady Devils played a smothering defense, keeping Nevada players at bay for a while.

With 3:21 to go in the half, Nevada was tagged with a technical foul as one of the Lady Jays shoved a Lady Devil.This allowed Gurdon to tie the score at 18-18.

The Lady Devils responded to whatever the Lady Jays did, but trailed 28-26 at the half.

The Lady Jays were late coming out of the locker room for the third period.

They were so late the officials had placed the ball on the court and were counting the five-seconds off before Nevada showed up.

The Lady Jays were able to widen the lead in the third, taking advantage of the faster pace.

The quarter ended with Nevada leading 42-33.

Gurdon opened the final six minutes in the bonus as the Lady Jays had gotten foul happy in the third.

The problem, though, was Gurdon was also in foul trouble, with two of the best players on the bench with four each.

Fouls slowed the pace of the game to a crawl as each foul stopped the clock and sent players to the line.

The Lady Devils managed to cut the lead to three, only to see Nevada push it back to seven.

Gurdon's girls never quit, but, instead fought back and trailed 46-41 with 1:21 left in the game.

Nevada had one bucket left in it, while Gurdon scored three points in the remaining time.

Gurdon's boys had the misfortune of meeting Waldo in the semifinals, falling 58-33.

The smaller Devils were able to hang with the Dogs, somewhat, in the first half.

What Gurdon lacked in size, the Devils made up in aggressiveness, but trailed 14-9 at the end of one.

Waldo's size took its toll in the second quarter as the Dogs were able to go inside more consistently.

The Devils began mining iron in the second, as they had shot after shot either bounce off the rim or rim out.

Halftime arrived with the Dogs up 25-15.

The track meet began in earnest in the third as both teams tried to run. Waldo was more successful, as the Dogs pushed their lead to 34-16 with 3:15 left in the quarter.

The Devils had their chances to score, but couldn't find the bottom of the bucket.

Being taller allowed Waldo to pull down more rebounds and look for the fast break, which is exactly what the Dogs did as they ran out to a 48-24 lead at the end of three.

Gurdon managed to score a bit in the first three minutes of the final period, while the Dogs were cold until the three minute mark.

Waldo led 50-31 with 2:30 left in the game, then went on an 8-2 run for the win.

Waldo's girls weren't as good as the boys, and were sent packing in the quarter finals by Nevada, 52-17.

The Lady Dogs were unable to score in the first half, and there were doubts they would in the second half.

Nevada, though, opened with a 21-0 lead at the end of one and was up 29-0 at the break.

Waldo came out firing in the third, finally getting on the board, but trailing 43-6 when it was over.

Stephens eliminated Nevada's junior boys from the quarters with a 56-44 win.

There was a lot of action early on, but little scoring as the Runners jumped out to a 12-7 lead at the end of one.

Stephens extended its margin to 24-15 by halftime and began running at will in the third, with the score being 43-28 heading into the fourth quarter.

Gurdon's Lady Devils whipped the Lady Roadrunners 43-25 in the opening round.

Stephens won the tip, but Gurdon scored first and went on to lead 8-4 at the end of one.

The Lady Devils again scored first to open the second quarter, and began having their way with the Lady Runners as they bolted out to a 23-11 lead by halftime.

Gurdon managed to get inside regularly in the third, which resulted in easy baskets.

Neither team shot well from the charity stripe, though both had ample opportunity.

By the end of three Gurdon's lead was 20, with the score 37-17.

Opening night saw Waldo's boys whip Blevins, with Gurdon getting past Genoa Central.

Genoa's girls dumped Stamps, while Lewisville smacked Blevins.