Jaguars Pounce Early and Often

The Boulder Creek Jaguars ended their regular season in style Tuesday night, easily dispatching the Valley Vista Monsoon by a score of 73-42 on the road. It was a very convincing victory and the Jags looked sharp from the opening tipoff. The win was a trifecta of sorts for Boulder Creek; ending their regular season record at 24-2, finishing regional play undefeated (at 14-0) and regaining the #1 ranking in Class 5A2. By all accounts this has been a very impressive season for Coach Randy Walker, his staff, and the recently crowned Northwest Region champion Jaguars.

The Jags were led by co-captain Ryan Crane (27 points, 5 threes, 4 rebounds, 4 assists), Joe Simpson (9 points, 5 rebounds), Weston Newell (8 points, 7 assists, 7 steals), Alex Dykhuizen (7 points, 4 rebounds), Josh Braun (7 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists), Ryan Zettle (5 points, 7 assists, 2 steals), Jake Hunt (5 points), Stephen Crim (3 points) and Cort Watson (2 points, 2 rebounds). It was an impressive all around game for Boulder Creek as they shot 48% as a team from the field, distributed 23 assists, had 15 team steals and snared 29 total boards over the course of the contest. Minutes were also liberally distributed and all 12 members of the Jaguar roster saw playing time in the game.

The Jaguars entered the game well rested, healthy and looking forward to wrapping up the most successful season in the short history of Boulder Creek. The only downside to this game was the absence of senior center Alex Dykhuizen during the second half of the contest. The co-captain experienced some dizziness at halftime due to a hard shot to the head in the first half and was kept out of the game for precautionary reasons. The team is hopeful he will return to full strength for the upcoming playoffs as it will be important for the Jags to have him, and a full roster, ready to go against the expected level of competition.

Boulder Creek will now set its sights on the state playoffs, which get underway at home on Feb 25th. With the #1 seed in Class 5A2 secured, the Jags will host the #16 seed in the comfortable confines of Jaguar gymnasium. A win in the opening round will ensure a second round game at home on Feb 27th. Should the Jaguars prevail in both games they would compete in the 5A2 final 4 at Arizona State University during the first week of March. Coach Walker and the Jags will need the Jaguar nation to turn out in big numbers next week to cheer on the team as they embark on their playoff run.