Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Gurdon, Nevada Earn Jr. District Titles

Gurdon's girls and Nevada's boys took the district junior basketball titles Saturday, Feb. 14.

The tourney, played at Nevada School, saw plenty of action from the opening tip Monday, Feb. 9, until the final buzzer on Valentine's Day.

The finals of the girl's bracket saw Nevada's Lady Blue Jays paired with the Lady Devils of Gurdon, while the boy's finals matched the undefeated junior Jays against Genoa Central.

The Lady Devils prevailed 41-31 in the hard-fought contest.

Gurdon took control early with a 12-4 first quarter lead. The Lady Devils sealed the inside off, forcing Nevada to fire from the perimeter.

By halftime, the Lady Devils lead was 23-16 as Nevada fought to keep the game relatively close. Six of Nevada's points came from free throws, with the rest coming from the field.

Gurdon primarily scored from the field, including one from long range, as Ebonee Crow dropped one in from three-point land.

The Lady Devils didn't let up in the third period either, as they led 31-26, working hard to keep Nevada at bay.

Poor shooting in the final six minutes doomed the Lady Jays.

Crow led Gurdon's offensive onslaught with 15 points. Vanesha Young and Tonya Russey each added six to the Lady Devil win.

Jenifer Harding was Nevada's offense with 15 points. Ronetha Pearson was next with seven.

A better night at the charity stripe could have resulted in a different outcome. The Lady Jays were a scant nine of 25, while the Lady Devils were two of 14.

BOYS FINAL

NEVADA 35

GENOA 28

Nevada's Blue Jays wasted no time in doing away with the Genoa Central Dragons in the boys' final Saturday night.

The Dragons were cooled off early as the Jays were relatively hot. At the end of one, Nevada held a 16-8 lead.

But, in the second quarter, Genoa Central rallied, cutting the lead to three at the break, 20-17, as the Jays had problems finding their range from the field.

The third quarter, however, proved too much for Genoa to overcome, as the Dragons were held scoreless. Not only did Genoa fail to find the basket from the floor, they missed two free throws in the period as well.

On the other side, the Jays were more than willing to take advantage of this situation as they scored four points to take a 24-17 lead into the final six minutes.

Genoa had two players score in the fourth quarter, Chad Hyman, scored eight, with Blake Mason nailing a trey.

This failed to bother the Jays as they were more than ready to clinch the district title.

The two teams literally played even in the period as both scored 11 points.

Digressing a bit, as the half drew near, the audience was thrilled as R. King, the smallest player on the court, drove the distance and scored a layup at the buzzer.

The Jays had three players in double figures. Johnathan House led with 12, while Geoffrey Box contributed another 11. Recco Holliman followed with 10.

Hyman led Genoa with 10.

The Jays were five of 10 at the free throw line, while Genoa converted five of nine.

STAMPS 14

NEVADA 33

Play opened in the 7A Central District Tournament with the host Lady Jays ending Stamps season 33-14.

The Lady Yellow Jackets scored two in the first period, six in the second and six in the fourth. The Lady Jays, though, opened with a dozen, added nine in the second and six more in the third and fourth periods for the victory.

GURDON 67

STEPHENS 40

Whenever these two teams meet, the pace is sure to be fast.

This time, the race went to the fleet footed Devils in a junior boys game as Gurdon whipped Stephens 67-40.

The Devils began their assault with a 17-6 first quarter, followed by a halftime score of 35-18. Gurdon added another 18 in the third period as the Devils went up 53-27 and held on for the win.

LEWISVILLE 43

NEVADA 49

The Lady Jays began their march toward the finals with a 49-43 win over Lewisville.

The Lady Red Devils opened the contest with a 14-12 lead after one, and held a 29-26 advantage at the half. By the end of three, the score was 33-32 in Lewisville's favor. But, the Lady Jays know not the meaning of the word quit and battled back for the victory.

GENOA 53

STAMPS 44

Genoa's junior boys began their trek toward destiny, and a date with Nevada, by stepping on the Yellow Jackets 53-44.

The Dragons were able to take control of the game early, 11-9 after one, and 25-21 at the half, never trailing in the outing. By the end of three, the Dragons were firmly in control 41-27.

GURDON 38

STEPHENS 32

Gurdon's Lady Devils had their hands full with Stephens early, but managed a 38-32 win.

The Lady Roadrunners managed an 8-7 lead after one, but trailed 19-14 at the half.

In the second half, the two teams battled back and forth, with Gurdon leading 26-22 after three and holding off a Stephens rally for the win.

NEVADA 51

GURDON 36

In the boys semifinals, Gurdon and Nevada met once again.

The Jays were ready for the track meet as they outscored the Devils 15-9 in the first six minutes of the game, and posted a 34-18 halftime advantage.

The Devils were unable to rally in the third quarter as the Jays continued to pour it on. By the end of the period, Nevada led 45-25.

DISTRICT CHAMPIONS Nevada's junior boys managed to end their 1997-98 campaign on the basketball court with a convincing win over the Genoa Central Dragons Saturday night, Feb. 14. The victory was even sweeter to the Jays as it was for the district title. In addition, the Jays, with their 35-28 win, ended the season with a perfect mark of 18-0.