Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Blue Jays Rout Three Foes

Three games, three routes and three wins.

This is how last week went for the Nevada Bluejays as they were on a tear with the season winding down.

Genoa Central was the first victim as they were thrashed 95-40 by the Jays.

For the most part, the game ended at the same time the buzzer went off in the first period. The Jays, at this time, held a commanding 25-0 lead and never looked back.

Taking advantage of the huge lead, the Jays kept the pressure on in the second period as they increased their advantage to 47-16.

The destruction continued in the third period as Nevada belted out a 76-27 lead. This beating was inflicted in spite of the fact the Jays were without three players. Joseph Young, Denton Flowers and Jermaine Perkins were all out sick.

However, Tavoris Blakely took up the slack and lived up to his nickname of "Trouble." Blakely was plenty of trouble for Genoa as he poured in 30 points.

Reginald Reed did Genoa no favors as he added 16 in the contest.

Cory Gideon led Genoa with 14, while Jason Hamilton added 12.

The tale from the stripe showed the Jays connecting on 17 of 32, while Genoa was 10 of 20.

Fouke's Panthers were skinned in the second game as the Jays hammered them 89-31 on Jan. 26.

Again, the first period made the difference as the Jays offense tickled the nets for 26, while the defense was stingy, giving up only five.

The Jays continued with their thrashing of the Panthers in the second period as they ran the score to 46-15 at the half.

There was no improvement for Fouke in the third as the Jays were surgical in their methods of destruction. The score after three was 64-21. From there, it was academic.

"Trouble" did what he does best as he led the Jays with 16. The trio of Young, Reed and Casey Curtis all canned 11.

The Panther offense was paced by Mike Keith with seven. The Fouke squad saw one of their players in a less than sportsmanlike mood as Jeremy Hickey was ejected with 1:19 left in the opening eight minutes.

The Jays were 30 of 44 from the line, while Fouke was seven of 15.

Game three, played Saturday, saw the Jays hand Prescott a 71-54 loss.

Nevada had the advantage from the outset as the Wolves only have eight players on their squad.

The Jays opened the contest with a 24-13 advantage after one and held a 36-22 lead at the half. The score after three was 54-37.

Trouble Blakely again led the Jays with 23 points, while Reed netted 16 and Ricardo Young sent 11 through the hoops. Lamarcus Page contributed 10 in the win.

Jason Webb tickled the nylons for 17 to pace Prescott, while Barrett Yates ripped the cords for 16.

The Jays were 20 of 24 in free throw attempts, while Prescott converted 15 of 18 tries.

Nevada had a date with Lewisville Tuesday night and were slated to lock horns with Bradley in a rematch Friday night. To date, Bradley is the only team to stop the Jays in league play.