Eagles fall short at tournament

Finishing the Orange Holiday Tournament in California with a 1-4 record, Boulder City High School’s boys basketball team found itself on the wrong side of two close games, falling to Costa Mesa on Dec. 29 and La Habra on Dec. 30.

“The competition was very strong,” said boys coach John Balistere. “There were a few schools down there that would be in the top of the 3A here. The experience was very good for us. We played some great teams, did a few things well and found some other things we needed to work on to get better.”

Playing shorthanded throughout the tournament, the Eagles fell to Costa Mesa 46-43, letting a fourth-quarter lead slip away.

Up by 4 points heading into the fourth quarter, senior forward Gavin Douglas scored 19 points with 13 rebounds, and senior guard Martin Thompson scored 11 points with seven rebounds. Junior Bret Pendleton scored 6 points with six rebounds.

Against La Habra, the Eagles fell 51-42 without Douglas or senior guard Hayden Sullivan in the lineup.

“We were playing a little bit shorthanded all tournament,” Balistere said. “We were without Gavin for our last game and Hayden for three games down there. Overall, we played OK, but we struggled a bit. We have to do a better job of taking care of the basketball. We need to be more fundamentally sound.”

Without two of their top scorers on the court, Thompson scored a team-high 10 points and 10 rebounds and junior Tyler Lemmel added 8 points and five rebounds.

For his efforts, Thompson was named to the all-tournament team.

Looking to make some noise in state after some tough out-of-state competition, the Eagles will travel to Pinecrest Academy on Friday, Jan. 7, followed by a home game Tuesday, Jan. 11, with rival Moapa Valley.

“Coming back from our trip, we’ve had a few good practices,” Balistere said. “I’m really excited to see how that translates during our next few games.”

Contact Robert Vendettoli at BCRsports@gmail.com.