Jan 1, 2025
By Loren Kopff • @LorenKopff on X
CYPRESS-The good thing for the Norwalk High boys basketball team when it faced host Oxford Academy in pool play action of the Douglas Uselton Memorial D5 Challenge Tournament was that it was a one-possession contest for the first 15:09. The bad news for the Lancers what that they struggled in the shooting category, putting up 44 shots, making 13 of them in a 43-36 setback to the Patriots last Friday.
Norwalk, which began the tournament with a 54-41 win over Chowchilla High the previous day, rebounded to knock off Magnolia High 63-13 last Saturday before falling to AGBU Manoogian-Demirdjian School 46-39 this past Monday in the third place game.
Norwalk and Oxford Academy struggled in the opening quarter, and it was only 1-0 Patriots when it called a timeout two and a half minutes into the contest. At this point, Norwalk had four rebounds but had attempted two shots and turned the ball over twice. The Lancers took a 2-1 lead with 3:22 remaining in the stanza on senior Diego Morales’ basket. But the quarter ended with the Patriots up 6-5 as Norwalk went two of 10 from the field.
“Other than this being a Christmas Tournament and the irregularity of the schedule, who knows who’s going to show up sometimes,” said Norwalk head coach Jim Webster. “They’re 16, 17-year old kids. But [Oxford Academy] didn’t start off well either. It was still a low-scoring game the whole first half, so we kind of felt we were hopefully going to make our way through. But our weakness has been three-point shooting, and it seemed like every team we’ve played has made about five or six, and that sometimes is the difference.”
The irregularity he was referring to was the fact that Norwalk was to have played Valley Christian High in the opener. But, V.C. had double booked tournaments and participated in the Ontario Christian Knight Time Classic while Magnolia was the replacement.
Norwalk’s biggest lead in the game came with 5:08 left in the first half when senior Aaron Reyes converted a three-point play. The next Norwalk basket came with 70 seconds left in the half, making it 15-14. After that, Norwalk missed its next six shots, its longest scoring drought of the game, and just like that, the Patriots had built a 23-14 lead.
Morales scored with 3:23 left in the third quarter to make it 23-16 and would later fall behind by nine points at 34-25 with 6:46 remaining in the game. That’s when Andruw Castellanos scored a basket and sank two free throws, then junior Jeriel DeLosReyes hit a three-pointer in a span of 2:50 to make it a 36-32 contest. But Norwalk went one of four from the field down the stretch and ended with its lowest scoring performance of the season.
Castellanos led Norwalk with 12 points and eight rebounds, Morales had eight points and junior Jesus Sanchez added eight rebounds. For the game, Norwalk had 34 rebounds, half a dozen on the offensive end, and turned the ball over 16 times.
“What I’ve been noticing on film the last few weeks is that giving up too many points on offensive rebounds, and transition after missed layups,” said Webster. “In the half court, we’re pretty solid. I told them at halftime, I think they only scored five points off half-court offense. Most of it was on offensive rebounds or turnovers.”
Norwalk’s 11-6 start to the season is the best for the program since the 2019-2020 campaign when that team concluded at 18-12. And of the six losses, two have been by three points (El Modena High and Rio Hondo Prep) and three have been by seven points (Brea Olinda, Oxford Academy and AGBU). Norwalk begins Mid-Cities League action on Friday at Firebaugh High before facing Downey High on Wednesday.
“We have some experience from last year,” said Webster. “You can see it in our guards, and for the most part, we’re able to run a pretty good offense. Shooting is going to be hit and miss all the time. But guard experience is helping and we’re able to get some inside points. But overall, I am pretty satisfied. There are probably a couple of losses I’d like to have back. We’re in every game and that’s good. We just have to figure out how to win those close games against good teams.”
