THE OFFICIAL SITE OF
Whitney High School Athletics

In spite of a lackluster performance by the Whitney High boys basketball team Friday night, the Wildcats ended up defeating visiting Del Campo by 19 points, 62-43. Make no mistake, the Wildcats played well and hustled on defense. However, the ‘Cats just did not appear in synch. “The flow of the game, we really weren’t flowing,” said Whitney’s Jashon Lewis, who scored 19 points in the game, “but we just seemed to keep it together and stay together and stay positive and end up winning.” In spite of the “flow” not being there, the Wildcats proved they can win when not looking like winners. However, it was Whitney’s third game in five days and the were coming off a sterling performance defeating Ponderosa 59-46 two days before. “One week we played four games in six days and this week three games in five days. I think we were a little bit tired,” said Whitney head coach Nick French. “Our win on Wednesday night was about as well as I’ve seen us play. To beat Pondo on the road like that … , I thought that was a statement.” French also said the ‘Cats pending rematch with Roseville Tuesday could well have been on his player’s minds as well. Whitney was also missing the services of guard Justin Kraft, who was sick and told to stay home. The Wildcats were never seriously threatened by the Cougars, taking an 18-11 lead at the end of the first period and extending it to 36-24 by intermission. But the fact Whitney could not put them away early was a testament to the competition in the Capital Valley Conference. “They’re very well coached; (Dave Nobis is) a very good coach,” French said. “They’re not bad. That’s the thing; I mean nobody in our league is bad.” At 9-1 in league and 19-4 overall, Whitney could well have been thinking about Roseville, the only conference team to beat the ‘Cats. The Tigers sit in third place in the CVC Standings. The Wildcats’ Matt Willis loosened things up in the second quarter by hitting three of his four 3-point shots in that period. Willis finished the game with 14 total points. Tyler Austin also helped Whitney pick up the pace in the second half, scoring nine of his 10 points in the final two frames. “Jashon kind of finally just said enough is enough and he made a couple big shots, and Tyler made a couple big plays,” French said. “Some of our juniors are starting to play better. It’s nice to see them stepping up and playing some big minutes for us, so that’s really a pleasant sight to see.” Whitney 78, Roseville 66 The Wildcats finished up their final regular-season road trip Tuesday by beating the only CVC team to hand the ‘Cats a conference loss. Four Whitney players scored in double digits and 10 ‘Cats scored in all. Lewis posted 22 points, Noah Samulewski and Adam Sharrah added 12 each and Tyler Austin scored 11. Sharrah hit four 3-point shots. Austin had seven of Whitney’s 29 rebounds and David Owens five. The Wildcats final three regular-season games will be at home.

THE OFFICIAL SITE OF
Whitney High School Athletics

WHITNEY BOYS BATTLE FATIGUE TO STAY NO. 1

JIM LINSDAU

Placer Herald | 2/9/2017

PHOTO CREDIT: Whitney High School Athletics