Sports
Boys Hoops: No. 1 Poly Runs Away From Wilson
Bruins are in a quick hole, but are able to stay within striking distance of the Jackrabbits for two quarters. Poly then runs off to its 21st consectutive victory, 65-43. Zack Reince led the Bruins with 18 points and six rebounds.
The Wilson High Bruins knew they had a tall task on Wednesday facing Moore League rival Poly, ranked No. 1 in CIF-Southern Section Division 1AA and No. 3 in the nation.
And while the host Bruins managed to stay with the Jackrabbits for two quarters, Poly eventually ran away from Wilson in a 65-43 victory.
“I thought that we played pretty good in the first half,” Wilson coach Matt Michelson said. “But they’re not ranked third in the nation for nothing. They are good at all positions and were a lot bigger and faster than us. They are really, really good.”
Find out what's happening in Belmont Shore-Napleswith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Poly boasts a frontline with four players 6-foot-5 or taller including two over 6-8, while the Bruins have no player taller than 6-3. The Jackrabbits used their height advantage to outrebound the Bruins 42-17, including 22 offensive rebounds that led to 38 points.
“I was proud of the way we responded in the second half,” Poly coach Sharief Metoyer said. “We were a little flat in the first half and I challenged my players at halftime to give a better effort and show this team what they were made of.”
Find out what's happening in Belmont Shore-Napleswith free, real-time updates from Patch.
The Jackrabbits (21-0, 9-0) have yet to lose a game, winning all but one by at least 15 points. But they led the Bruins by only 37-24 at halftime, and might have been a tad distracted.
Poly has a game against Moore League rival Millikan on Friday and then plays at Santa Ana Mater Dei on Saturday in the Nike Extravaganza against the third-ranked team in the state of Nevada, Las Vegas Bishop Gorman.
“I think the kids might have been looking ahead to that game,” Metoyer said. “It’s a nationally televised game against a highly regarded opponent and sometimes kids focus on things ahead and not the task at hand.”
Poly opened the game on a 10-0 run and the Bruins never cut the lead to single digits, though Wilson did outscore the Jackrabbits in the second quarter by one point behind the play of Zack Reince and senior guard Jarone Nelson, who knocked down three 3-point shots to account for his nine points.
“I thought we hung with them pretty well in the first half,” Reince said. “They just seemed to get every rebound and were knocking down a lot more shots in the second half.”
Reince finished the game with a game-high 18 points and collected six rebounds for the Bruins.
“We have two games left in the regular season,” Michelson said. “If we can win those two games we could have a great chance to finish third in one of the toughest league’s in the nation.”