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Turlock falls to Kimball
turlock bball 2
Turlocks Montrell Dennis brings the ball down the court and scores against Kimball during the 2nd round of the Godinez Tournament. - photo by CANDY PADILLA / The Journal

For the first time since the 2011 season, the Turlock High (1-5) varsity boys basketball team is not in the Godinez Championship game.

After Friday night’s devastating loss to Kimball (4-4) by a score of 73-44, the Turlock Bulldogs have now lost five of their first six games and are off to the worst start in head coach Doug Cornfoot’s tenure.

“We talked about how we are playing open gym basketball,” said Cornfoot. “Guys are throwing up shots with no court balance for rebounds; guys are making passes with really no intent on something positive coming out of it.”

There was no sense of urgency in Friday night’s game for the Bulldogs, who were just outright defeated by a better Kimball team that came out with a fury.

A combination of Kimball players, along with Noel Oli and Brandon Bundy, caused havoc for the Turlock team which was playing completely out of sync and making costly mistakes.

In the opening quarter, Turlock committed 12 turnovers alone, showcasing the storyline of the game.

“We've been practicing for a while and some of these guys have been with me for a while; it’s not new, it’s not acceptable,” said Cornfoot.

Kimball jumped to a 19-6 lead over Turlock after the first quarter and by halftime, Turlock trailed 43-19.

Kimball outscored Turlock 19-13 in the third quarter and held Turlock to only one three pointer made all game, until the closing two minutes.

“We have talent and there are signs of good things, but right now the bad things are just far outweighing the good things,” said Cornfoot. “And I have guys playing out of their comfort zone, doing things they normally don’t, all little things it takes to win, we are not doing.”

The Jaguars of Kimball took it to Turlock from start to finish and the Bulldogs fell by 29 points.

“It’s up to them if they want to be a team and come out here and compete or if they want to be individuals and not succeed,” Cornfoot added. “This team right now needs to decide if they want to build from this year or if they want to just sit and wait till the next game.”

Habib Velasquez scored a team-high 19 points for the game.

Turlock’s next game will be against Ripon for the third place at 4:30 p.m. today.