Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Wolves win two of three to inaugurate new gym

Opening night for the Prescott Sports Arena went well for the home teams, as the Wolves took two of three from arch-rival Gurdon.

The junior boys opened the new gymnasium by edging the Go-Devils 36-33, while the Wolves, after a slow start, posted a 66-59 win over Gurdon.

The only blemish on the night was in the senior girl's game as the Wolverettes lost a heartbreaker, 54-47, to the Lady Devils.

CUBS 36

DEVILS 33

After Miss Arkansas, Jessie Ward, presented the officials with the basketball to get things going at the Prescott Sports Arena, the Curley Cubs took to the hardwood against an old foe in Gurdon.

Shortly after the opening tip, Luther Stewart was fouled in the act of shooting and went to the line. He scored the first point in the new facility with a free throw.

This led to the game being stopped, Stewart autographing the ball and it being given a place of honor in the display cases in the front lobby.

The first actual bucket came shortly thereafter when Chris Hopper netted a six-footer.

The Cubs opened the contest aggressively, going up 7-2 at the 2:08 point of the first quarter.

Gurdon was fortunate the Cubs were having an off night from the field, otherwise the game would have been over in the first six minutes.

The Cubs had the ball most of the period, either from rebounding missed Devil shots or steals. However, Prescott was unable to convert, but managed to take a 12-4 lead at the end of one.

Gurdon had possession to start the second and promptly turned the ball over. In spite of the miscue, the Devils managed to score the first points of the period.

There was plenty of action up and down the court, but little scoring as both teams had problems finding the bottom of the bucket.

The Cubs built a 10-point lead, only to see Gurdon battle back and cut the lead to four at 16-12.

Prescott's offense heated up late in the period as the Cubs went on a 6-1 run to end the half leading 22-13.

The third quarter was much the same as the second, with the Cubs getting the ball first and scoring being the main difference.

Midway in the period, Gurdon's offense started hitting and cut Prescott's lead to 25-20 with 2:44 remaining.

For the rest of the frame, the teams swapped baskets with the third coming to an end with the score 29-24.

Gurdon refused to go away, or roll over and play dead in the final six minutes of the contest.

The fourth quarter saw more up and down, but little scoring early on.

When scoring got underway, it was primarily Gurdon as the Devils cut the gap to 31-29 with 3:44 left in the game.

The Cubs managed to preserve the win primarily from the line, as Gurdon was forced to foul late, with Prescott working the clock.

The win will go down in Prescott history as the first victory in the new facility.

WOLVERETTES 47

LADY DEVILS 54

Early on it looked like a sweep for the home team, but this wasn't to be as the Lady Devils played spoiler and upended the Wolverettes 54-47.

Prescott won the tip, but Gurdon wound up with the ball to get the game underway.

The Lady Devils, though, were unable to score first. This honor went to Prescott's Tammi Harris, who put the ball in the hole for the first points to be scored by a Wolverette in the new gym.

Prescott took a 5-0 lead at the 6:23 mark in the first, which is when scoring bogged down.

Three minutes later the Wolverettes were up 7-0, with Gurdon's first points coming from the charity stripe with 2:22 showing.

Turnovers by both teams prevented either from gaining much of an upper hand in the period, but Prescott managed to take a 12-4 lead at the buzzer.

Gurdon scored to get the second quarter underway, though there was little scoring early on in the period.

The teams played hard, moving the ball up and down the court, but finding it difficult to get the ball to fall.

The Wolverettes built an 18-10 lead before Gurdon began fighting back and cut the lead to 23-17 at the half.

Neither team played a full-court game, as both opted to avoid pressing the other.

Prescott opened the third with the ball, but failed to convert. Gurdon responded with a three-pointer to narrow the lead to 23-20, following this with a bucket to cut Prescott's advantage to one at 23-22.

The Wolverettes were cold from the field, and found themselves trailing 24-23 with 5:27 left in the third.

Two free throws later had Prescott back in the lead, but the lead was short-lived.

Baskets were sporadically swapped in the final four minutes of the period, which ended with Prescott holding a slim 34-33 lead.

The Wolverettes scored first to get the final eight minutes underway, only to see the Lady Devils get hot and begin scoring almost at will.

The Lady Devils outscored Prescott 21-13 in the fourth quarter to steal the win.

WOLVES 66

DEVILS 59

The outcome in the final contest of the night was in doubt until midway into the fourth quarter when Prescott pulled away and sealed the 66-59 win.

The game began with both teams doing a lot of running up and down the court, but neither scoring much.

When scoring did start, the teams pretty much swapped buckets, as neither was able to show dominance.

Period one came to an end with the Wolves up 15-10.

This lead, though, wouldn't stand up in the second quarter, in spite of the fact Prescott scored first.

After the Wolves scored, Gurdon went on a 7-0 run to tie the score at 17-17.

The Wolves were just off on their shots in their new home.

Prescott managed to retake the lead 21-17 with 3:51 showing, but both teams got sloppy and tried hot dog antics instead of playing solid, fundamental basketball.

Gurdon nailed a bucket at the buzzer to lead 25-23 at halftime.

The second half began with little happening from either side, though the Wolves did show more aggression than they had in the first half.

The Wolves started looking for fast-break opportunities and were more focused.

However, Gurdon came to play and had no intention of letting the Wolves simply run away with the game. With 4:23 left in the period, Prescott led 30-29.

Then it got interesting.

The Wolves offense started hitting on all cylinders and Prescott went on a 12-0 run to push the score to 42-29. Gurdon didn't score from the 4:23 point until there was only 1:23 left in the period.

However, the Devils ended the third with a 7-0 run to cut the lead to 43-38 as time ran out in the stanza.

Prescott caught Gurdon napping to get the fourth quarter underway, as the ball was tossed in while the Devils were standing around.

The Wolves broke downcourt and slammed the ball home, the first of four dunks in the fourth period.

Physically, the game was typical of a Prescott-Gurdon contest  brutal  as all players were hammered at one time or another.

Fouls, though, slowed the pace of the game to a crawl, with both teams in the bonus with 5:43 left in the outing.

The Wolves built a 13-point lead with 2:12 left at 58-45, forcing Gurdon to foul even more.

With 1:37 remaining, Gurdon was called for an intentional foul, giving Prescott two free throws and the ball. Both charity shots were canned, putting Prescott up 64-45.

Coaches on both sides cleared their benches, which allowed Gurdon to make the final score look more respectable.