Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Wolverettes Take Championship At Saratoga (cont) (cont)

g something to the ref. This bought him a seat on the bench for the rest of the half.

However, Saratoga missed two of the three free throws and did nothing with the ball after inbounding it.

The zebras were liberal with their foul calls as both teams were in the one-and-one before the first frame ended.

The second began with the 'Dogs in the double bonus, but it didn't really matter as the home team rarely had the ball long enough to be fouled.

Gurdon continued playing its controlled reckless abandon game, confusing Saratoga and resulting in steals and easy baskets.

While Ware could reach down on his bench to keep players fresh, the 'Dogs had no such luxury as they only had eight players dressed out.

With the fouls mounting, the 'Dogs called off their press. Gurdon took advantage of this going for bombs.

The second quarter was nearly three minutes old before the 'Dogs scored. Gurdon, though, had a healthy lead at 30-12 at the time.

Had it not been for an abundance of fouls called, the 'Dogs would have scored only four points in the second quarter.

As the clock wound down toward halftime, the game began looking more like a rugby scrum than basketball game.

Halftime showed Gurdon in command 43-26.

With Ware, though, no lead is ever enough or safe.

When the third period opened, his Devils returned to form, pressing, stealing and scoring.

Saratoga came out firing and outscored Gurdon 6-1 early on. The Devils, however, continued pressing and were merciless as they took a 69-39 lead into the final eight minutes.

Fouls kept piling up on Gurdon, but Ware simply sent in more bodies and kept the pressure on. Saratoga was forced out of its press, which allowed Gurdon to work its will offensively.

Period four began with the Devils posting the first six points on the board, culminating with RaShun Hopson slamming one home.

Ware, with the commanding lead, told his charges to work the clock on offense, while never calling off the press.

This didn't matter as Saratoga's players had no legs left and the game turned into a passing drill for Gurdon.