Neighboring programs Denair High and Turlock Christian High came together on Monday night for a highly-anticipated non-conference varsity basketball matchup, a clash in which the stars on each team were shining bright.
Backed by a 32-point, 14-rebound outburst from Koby Cervantes, one of the most prolific scorers in the state, the Coyotes pulled away late to overcome a 16-point performance from Michael Miller and secure a 78-57 victory.
Denair improved to 8-6 overall, while TC dropped to 7-8. The Coyotes have now won five of the last six meetings against their former Southern Athletic League rivals.
“Turlock Christian is a good team, and they brought it today,” said Denair head coach Kevin Storms. “It’s nice to play them because it’s always a fun atmosphere. They’re a local team and they bring a fan base. We did enough to keep up this recent success against them.”
Cervantes has posted a double-double in each of his 12 appearances this season, and continued his streak of 15 straight double-doubles dating back to last season. The 6-foot-6, 185-pound combo guard also pushed his point total to 322. He is now averaging 26.8 points per game, which is the 14th-highest mark in California.
Cervantes, who Storms called the “coach on the court,” was 13 of 18 from the field. With Denair holding a 34-23 lead at the half, dropped 16 points on seven of nine attempts, including a pair of deep 3-pointers, in the third quarter to help the Coyotes pull away. He drained another shot from beyond the arc in the early stages of the fourth to extend the lead to 21 and earn himself some extra rest.
“We knew coming into this game that TC wasn’t a team that we could just blow off. They’re a really good team,” Cervantes said. “They played great, and we let them stay in, but we woke up in the second half and pulled away. I think I just got mad and a little annoyed with how I was playing, so I kind of stepped it up out of the locker room, playing more aggressively. I didn't do that in the first half, but I stepped it up in the second half and we got the win. That's all that matters.”
Miller scored 11 of his 16 points for the Eagles in the first half. Also making matters difficult for Cervantes and company was the pressure on both ends of the floor from junior Tyler Nydom. Nydom scored eight points while recording 10 rebounds and three steals.
“Mike's a special player to coach, and you can't ask for more,” said Turlock Christian head coach Jacob Gregg. “He’s a joy to watch play basketball. You're going to get 100% every day from him. He always finds a way to make an impact, so he’s a special player. Tyler is the same. He brings it every game. We call him our big man being only 6-foot-1, but he plays much bigger than his height.”
The Eagles momentarily cut the lead to 14 in the fourth quarter with a 12-point burst from freshman Alec Foy and four points apiece from Winston York and Aiden Johnson, but any and all rally attempts were stifled by the shot-making of complementary Denair trio of juniors Harlan Brown, Brody Fitzgerald and Connor Hart.
Fitzgerald scored all 11 of his points in the second half, while Brown made four free throws and a floater to keep the Eagles at bay. Hart also scored eight of his 10 points in the second half, including a deep three to start the third quarter.
“These kids are a joy to coach, because not only are they gifted athletically, we've just got good attitudes and they work hard,” Gregg said. “Sometimes you have days like today, when Koby is on and the guys around him are making shots.”
“It’s really great for me to have people who are willing to step up and willing to drive the ball and be really aggressive and get those foul calls that we need to get stuff going,” Cervantes added. “All of these guys are very, very important to this team.”
Unlike many teams in the area, the Coyotes have already begun their conference slate, defeating Gustine in the Southern Athletic League opener last week by a 73-16 score. The Coyotes will again be at home on Friday league play against Le Grand (1-8, 0-1) at 6 p.m.
As for the Eagles, they will play two more games this week before they begin Central California Athletic Alliance competition. They’ll first travel to Tracy on Wednesday for a 5 p.m. tip against Delta Charter (0-0), then wrap up the preseason in Groveland on Thursday against Tioga (2-1). CCAA play starts Tuesday, Jan. 13 when the Eagles travel to Stockton to play Ben Holt College Prep Academy (10-6).
