Friday, Dec. 09, 2011

Los Banos boys rebound in big way

If there's one thing the Los Banos High boys basketball team does well, it's recover.

At the Modesto City Tournament last week, the Tigers dropped their first game 66-46 against Golden Valley, then bounced back to win three in a row and take the consolation championship.

A couple of Division I Modesto-area teams were beaten along the way -- Manteca, Enochs and Beyer all fell victim to LB.

"It meant a lot to us to be able to come back from that," first-year LB coach Mike Bonillas said. "The only team we lost to won the tournament. It lets us know we're on the right path.

"I'm really proud of them that they bounced back like that. They're a great group of kids."

Manteca boasted a guard-driven game, but LB responded for the 44-36 win.

Enochs trailed by 16 at one point, but roared back to make it a two-point game before LB put it away to win 48-39.

"We have a tendency to play ahead of ourselves and stop doing the things we did to get the lead," Bonillas said.

And Beyer fell 49-32 at home.

Then on Wednesday, LB (4-1) recovered from a 13-6 first-quarter deficit to drop Gustine 59-41. A mismatch in the middle allowed Kyle Quint to drop 28 points for the Tigers, along with 14 rebounds and a handful of assists.

Jake Martin added 14 points and seven boards, while Joey Bennett created his own version of the Herman Cain tax plan with an 8-8-8 -- points, rebounds and assists, respectively.

"We got the guys together to remind them what we're doing -- getting the ball inside to Kyle to take advantage of the mismatch there. Once we started doing that, we were fine," Bonillas said. "We told them to just play basketball. We were taking too many gambles trying to get steals and fastbreak layups. That's not how we play."

Enterprise reporter David Witte can be reached by phone at 388-6565 or by e-mail at sports@losbanosenterprise.com

Enterprise reporter David Witte can be reached by phone at 388-6565 or by e-mail at sports@losbanosenterprise.com