Merced goes 'Iron Man' in Foundation loss

With many of the Merced basketball players still playing football, Knott had only seven players in uniform Monday against Modesto in a Sac-Joaquin Section foundation game.

With five players whistled for at least two fouls in the first half, Knott wasn't sure Merced would finish its 72-58 loss to Modesto with five players on the court.

"We were ready to pull a 'Hoosiers' and play with four if we had to," the Merced coach said. "We told our guys we didn't have anybody else. They had to start playing smarter on defense."

With a depleted roster, it took a spirited effort to keep the game close against a Modesto team that reached the section title game last season.

Knott has no problem waiting as long as he has to before he gets the rest of his players from football.

"It's not so bad because of what they're doing," Merced coach Marcus Knott said. "They're missing for a pretty good reason. We'll wait. I'll keep rooting for them on Friday night."

Merced didn't have an answer for Modesto's Sammy Yeager.

The only returning starter from last year's Modesto Metro Conference championship team was a one-man show early. Yeager scored 22 of Modesto's first-half points on the way to a 35-point performance.

"If I only have one returning starter, I'll take a Sammy Yeager," Modesto coach Donnie Wallace said.

Modesto took control of the games by closing out the first and second quarters strong.

Yeager scored 11 points in the final 3:27 of the first quarter to spark a 20-2 run that gave Modesto a 22-11 lead heading into the second quarter.

Merced climbed back into the game at 26-22 with 3:48 left in the first half. However, Modesto again closed out the second quarter with a 13-4 run with the help of six points by Yeager.

"He's a good player," Knott said. "He's the kind of guy that is going to get his. He's that caliber a player where you're really not going to stop him."

Merced never cut the lead under 11 points in the second half. Sophomore Allen Huddleston led Merced with 22 points. Ian Doss added 15.

"I think our kids were a little fatigued," Knott said. "When you're tired you make mental mistakes. We had a lot of turnovers that led to layups."

GOLDEN VALLEY 63 GRACE DAVIS 37

MODESTO -- Golden Valley avenged a playoff loss to Davis last season with a win. Alex Fletcher led the way with 11 points. Chris Randle added 10.

Golden Valley jumped out to a 10-point lead at the end of the first quarter and outscored Davis in every quarter.

Fletcher made three 3-pointers.

LOS BANOS 50 LE GRAND 40

LE GRAND -- Stephen Maxey scored 14 points and Josh Bourbon added 10 for Los Banos. Miguel Manzo led Le Grand with 15 points.

LIVINGSTON 54 ATWATER 48

ATWATER -- Livingston outscored Atwater 12-7 in the fourth quarter to pull out the win. Eliseo Cervantes led a balanced attack with 13 points. Armarjit Malhi and Edgar Villareal added 10 points apiece for Livingston.

Alex Richardson scored a game-high 15 points for Atwater.

GIRLS BASKETBALL

MERCED 66 MODESTO 24

Merced outscored Modesto 37-6 in the second and third quarters combined to pull away from Modesto.

Twelve different Merced players scored with Deja Mann leading the way with 15 points. Mercedes Lee and Trinnity Booker added nine points apiece.

LE GRAND 54 LOS BANOS 39

LE GRAND -- Le Grand pulled away late to put the game away. Jennifer Hansen scored 13 points and pulled down 12 rebounds to lead Le Grand.

Olivia Moreno added 12 points and Miranda Flores scored 10.

Foundation Games

The Sac-Joaquin Section foundation games were established to help raise money for scholarships handed out by the section office.

Half of the money collected at the gate goes back to the section office.

The games do not count toward the 27-contact limit and are not calculated in the section power ratings.

There were 141 boys and girls basketball foundation games combined scheduled for Monday.

All referees donated their time to officiate the games.

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