By DEAN DELLAMALVA
MVI Sports
The California boys basketball team feels good heading into its holiday break.
The Trojans started fast and and ended on a high note, a 58-47 win over visiting Yough Wednesday.
Malik Ramsey led all scorers with 27 points, moving him within 49 points of 1,000 for his career. Teammate Cochise Ryan added 10 points.
Gamal Marballie had a strong night for the Cougars (4-3) scoring 20 of his 22 points in the second half. But he was the only member of his team to hit for double figures in the losing effort.
“Unfortunately, all my guys didn’t come to play today,” said Yough head coach Jim Nesser. “I expect that from Gamal. I expect him to play hard, I expect him to do what he did tonight. That’s how he normally plays.”
California head coach Aaron Balla preached to his team one key thing coming into the game. Basketball is a game and games are supposed to be fun.
“Tonight I just wanted them to regroup and have some fun, get back to the basics,” said Balla. “We talked about ball control, talking and rotating defensively. Do the little things and have fun.”
One player who appeared to have a lot of fun was Ramsey who, at times, took over.
“Malik had a ball. He finished with 27 and I know he’s happy with that,” said Balla. “He understands when we have to take him out, which I could have done a bit sooner, but I wanted him to play.”
Ramsey created a number of issues for the Yough defense.
“He’s tough to guard, he made some big shots, big (3-pointers). He’s a good player,” said Nesser of Ramsey. “He took over the game at the end.”
Cal (4-3) jumped out to a 7-0 advantage before Yough scored their first basket at the 4:21 mark of the opening quarter on a jumper from Josh O’Bradovich.
“It was definitely a good start,” said Balla. “It is always good to have an early start like that at this level with these kids. I think it’s a huge confidence boost.”
Ramsey made a layup with 1:47 left in the opening quarter to make it 16-7. However, it was the last basket California scored over a span of 8:27.
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