Windsor in first place entering final week of schedule
The varsity basketball Jaguars are on the verge of their first North Bay League championship this week, entering the home stretch in the regular season alone at the top with an 11-1 record.
Windsor (19-5 overall) is coming off a critical stretch of NBL games, beginning with a 55-34 victory at Maria Carrillo and finishing with a key, 47-44 win at second place Montgomery.
The result kept the Jaguars a game up on both Montgomery and Cardinal Newman, with a titanic rematch at Newman set for Feb. 7. Should the Jags beat the Cardinals and Ukiah in the league finale on Feb. 9, they will win the NBL title outright.
Windsor takes two
The Jaguars kicked off a two-game road swing on Jan. 30 at Maria Carrillo, taking it to the Pumas in a 24-7 run out of the gate. Windsor led 31-11 at the half. The Jags extended the cushion to 23 by the end of the third quarter and never looked back on the way to a 55-34 rout.
Pacing the offense were Justin Smith (23 points, 9 rebounds), Riley Smith (13 points, 6 rebounds), Travis Carlozzi (8 points, 5 boards), Jordan Merical (5 points, 4 assists), Jaden Ruybalid (3 points), Jack Amormino (2 points) and Kyle Bozzetto (1 point).
“We had a great first quarter,” Jags coach Travis Taylor said. “Defensively, we were locked in and that led to some easy opportunities in transition offense.”
First place and the NBL driver’s seat were on the line when the Jaguars took the court at Montgomery on Feb. 1, and the game did not disappoint, as the Vikings eked out a 25-23 lead at the half.
Montgomery, fueled by a great performance from Evan Poulsen, opened up a brief six-point edge midway through the third quarter, but a series of critical defensive stops by the Jags allowed them to surge ahead, 37-34. The teams would battle to the wire before Windsor secured a hard-fought 47-44 win.
The Jaguars were led by the “Big Three” of Justin Smith (18 points, 11 rebounds), Riley Smith (13 points, 9 rebounds) and Carlozzi (6 points, 7 boards, 5 assists). Other leading scorers were Merical (6 points, 2 threes) and Uli Vielma (4 points).
“This was a great team win,” Taylor said later. “We showed a lot of poise down the stretch. It was a great high school basketball game.”
