HAWKS ROUT SAN JUAN IN OPENER
Five Liberty Ranch players score in double digits to rout San Juan
GALT — Play Like A Champion Today. Those words were inscribed on the front of the Liberty Ranch boys basketball players’ warm-up Tshirts as they warmed up before their non-league and home opener against San Juan.
That is exactly what Liberty Ranch, which has won back-to-back Sierra Valley Conference title the last two seasons, did. A fast start that contributed with defense and five players scoring in double figures led to Liberty Ranch posting a 90-49 win over San Juan at The Hawks Nest on Friday night.
In the first two minutes of the first quarter, San Juan, out of Citrus Heights, led the Hawks 6-4 after a 3-pointer and 1-of-2 free throws made. Then the Hawks’ defense started to take over the game, with sophomore guard Jalen Patterson leading the way. Thanks to a full-court press that led to a Spartan turnover, Patterson had the basketball in his hands that led to a lay-up that tied the game at 6-6, and was fouled along the way. He calmly sank the shot to give Liberty Ranch (1-0) a 7-6 lead. Then the Hawks’ fun really began. Continuing with its defense that forced the Spartans into quick shots inside the paint or turnovers near the baselines, Liberty Ranch made San Juan (1-1) pay for those mistakes. That led to a 16-0 run to establish a 25-6 lead with just over three minutes into the quarter. Scoring five of those points was Patterson, who finished with a game-high 22 points. He was one of five Liberty Ranch players who finished the game scoring in double figures.
“We played poor defensively in the Foundation Game (against Linden),” said Liberty Ranch coach Josh Williams. “It was an emphasis coming into
this game. Defense was definitely a focus.”
San Juan made a late charge in the final minutes of the quarter, thanks to offensive rebounds that led to second and third chance shots, and a 3-pointer from Damone Howard. But the Hawks finished the quarter on their path of destruction, leading 30-14 that was topped by a trey from forward Jayden Baroni.
Four Spartan turnovers within two minutes of the second quarter transition into easy buckets for Liberty Ranch. That led to a 38-14 lead. San Juan continued to fight through its off and on scoring in the quarter, but the Hawks’ consistency on defense led to the Spartans’ inconsistency on offense. The result was Liberty Ranch leading 54-26.
The Hawks showed no signs of slowing down at the start of the third quarter. The Hawks continued with their full-court pressure defense, which has been a staple in their winning ways since Williams took over as head coach at the start of the 2012-13 season.
But there were times in the quarter that Liberty Ranch switched to a 2-3 zone defense, forcing San Juan to take shots from behind the arc or make some attempts to muscle the basketball inside the paint. But the Hawks’ defense forced 13 turnovers in the eight minutes that led to an 85-44 advantage.
“We got a lot of easy shots,” Williams said.
The game had a running clock in the fourth quarter, as Williams and San Juan coach Fred Bryant cleared their respective benches.
At the free throw line, Liberty Ranch made 8-of-17. Garcia made 5-of-8 from the line, as he was fouled while driving to make lay-up shots.
“We shoot them every day,” Williams said. “Some guys, I wish, should’ve shot a lot better.”
Passing the ball after forcing the Spartans into turnovers was another big plus for the Hawks.
“We’re very talented, a lot of times we can just come down (the court) and no pass and shoot,” Williams said. “We want to establish rhythm and understand in certain situations we are going to have to pass the ball. Offensively, it’s about pass and cut, and we did a very good job in passing the ball.”
Williams has won all of his home openers since taking over the Liberty Ranch program. Establishing the season with Friday’s home win against the Spartans was great, but just the beginning of the season for the coach and his 15-player roster.
“When you’re at home, you want to win, you want to show well,” Williams said. “When you have the opener, you never really know what you’re going to get. It’s all about focus.”
Other double-digit scorers for Liberty Ranch behind Patterson were senior guard Chandler Garcia with 18, center Nick Edwards 14 and Baroni and junior guard Jaime Gonzalez had 13 points each.
Finishing out the scoring for the Hawks were senior center Chris Fielding with five points, sophomore forward Joe Lopez and senior guard Braeden Saramago two points each and sophomore forward Isaac Padilla one.
San Juan’s scorers were Howard and forward Shawn Mitchell with 11 points each, guard AJ Isca eight and Hogan Weaver seven and Delano Hughes six.
Today at 6 p.m., Liberty Ranch host Florin of Sacramento in another non-conference game at the Hawks’ Nest.