Walker Lawn & Home Care Holiday Hoops Fest

December 31, 2011



Boulder Creek High School played host to their First Annual Holiday Tournament this past week. Seven teams from the Phoenix area as well as Harlan High School, Chicago, participated in the three day event.

The Jaguars began tournament play versus Raymond Kellis High School, Glendale, Arizona. Kellis has one of the premier big men in Arizona in Kenny Martin. Martin, a 6’ 9” senior, has committed to play at Arizona State next year. The game began with a bang as Stephen Crim popped out to the top of the key and nailed two 3 point shots in a row giving BC a 6-5 lead. On the transition back to the defensive end of the court Crim rolled his ankle over another players’ foot and suffered a severe sprain. He was not able to return to action. Connor Kuchar, Marcus Jarrett and Anthony Perri came off the bench and did a tremendous job keeping Boulder Creek in the game and within striking distance. As usual, Josh Braun and Weston Newell provided the leadership to compete with a very athletic Kellis team. Boulder Creek tried to pound the ball inside with drives to the basket but were turned away by the shot blocking ability of Martin. The Jags just could not catch up to Kellis at any time during the game. At the end, Kellis hung on for a 68-61 win.

In the second game of the tournament Boulder Creek played Chandler Hamilton High School. Once again the Jags faced one of the best big men in Arizona, Eric Jacobsen. Jacobsen is a 6’11” center and has also committed to play for ASU next year. Connor Kuchar started the game in place of Stephen Crim and had the assignment of guarding Jacobsen. At 6’8” it’s difficult to comprehend a size disadvantage but Kuchar did a tremendous job guarding Jacobsen. The Jags collapsed in the middle and played solid team defense. Even though Boulder Creek struggled at the offensive end they were able to grab the lead early and hold on for a hard fought 44-32 victory.

In the Consolation Championship game the Jaguars played Desert Edge High School, Goodyear, Arizona. It appeared that 3 straight days of play took its toll on each team. Both teams had difficulty finding the range on offense and play was very sloppy at both ends of the court. Weston Newell grabbed 5 rebounds in the first two minutes of play on his way to a spectacular 22 rebound performance. Desert Edge played a 2-3 zone defense that stymied the Jags for the first three quarters of play. In the fourth quarter the Jags found their offensive groove and pulled away for the win.

For the tournament Boulder Creek ended up 2-1. Their overall record heading into 2012 is 10-3. Regular season play resumes Friday, January 6th at Mesa High School.