Windsor locked in three-way tie for first place at halfway mark
The Jaguars remain deadlocked with Montgomery and Cardinal Newman atop the North Bay League varsity basketball heap this week, notching lopsided road wins over Ukiah and Casa Grande to push their record to 7-1.
Windsor (15-5 overall) did it the old fashioned way, using outstanding defensive play and solid board-work to vanquish both opponents.
“Defensively we’ve been consistently good throughout the league season,” Jags coach Travis Taylor said. “We also saw a lot of zone last week and we made big strides in our zone offense from the Ukiah game to the Casa game.”
At press time the Jags were preparing for a two-game home-stand starting on Wednesday, Jan. 24 against Santa Rosa, followed by a Friday, Jan. 26 clash with visiting Rancho Cotate. Game times for the JV and varsity are 6 and 7:30 p.m.
Jags win two
Windsor closed the first half of the NBL schedule with a flourish, beginning on Jan. 16 at Ukiah. The Wildcats matched the Jags bucket-for-bucket in the first two quarters, going to the halftime locker room clinging to a 23-22 lead. The Jaguars gained separation with a decisive 27-11 third-quarter run and never let up on the way to a 64-42 rout.
“We trailed at the half but played with better focus and effort in the second half to pull away,” Taylor noted. “Justin Smith sparked us with his play, he had 14 points and five rebounds all in the second half.”
Riley Smith led the attack with 19 points and seven rebounds, while other top scorers included Justin Smith (14 points, 5 boards), Jordan Merical 14 points, 6 rebounds), Massimo Dicochea (5 points), Uli Vielma (3 points, 4 assists), Kyle Bozzetto (3 points), Jaden Ruybalid (2 points, 5 rebounds), Travis Carlozzi (2 points) and Jack Amormino (2 points).
The Jaguars traveled to Casa Grande two nights later, taking it to the Gauchos with a 17-4 run out of the gate. Windsor led 36-12 at the half and was never threatened in an eventual 61-37 romp.
Leading the offensive assault were Riley Smith (22 points, 9 rebounds), Justin Smith (11 points, 11 boards), Carlozzi (6 points), Merical (6 points), Dicochea (4 points), Bozzetto (4 points), Vielma (3 points), Ruybalid (3 points) and Amormino (2 points).
