Fully loaded with its big three, the Yuba City High boys basketball team weathered each storm its rival dropped in on Tuesday to win round one in the Foothill Valley League with River Valley, 60-55 in front of the friendly confines of the Brown Mob at Yuba City High on B Street in Yuba City.
YC moves to 9-10 and 1-0 in the FVL – a league that produced five playoff teams a year ago. Evans feels YC can compete with anyone the rest of the way, including when the two YC teams meet again across town at River Valley on Feb. 4.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement“Having (Sukhjeet Sihota) and Travis (Lomeli) back, our two-leading rebounders and scorers, really helps,” YC head coach Terry Evans said. “I feel like in our league there could be a lot of teams beating each other up.”
Up next for YC is Del Campo (11-7, 1-2) on the road today (Thursday). River Valley (5-15, 0-4) hosts Del Campo Tuesday.
For the Falcons, it was playing short-handed against YC without the services of Jayden Walker. Walker was out for personal reasons and was missed by his team.
“He’s going through a rough situation and can’t be here today,” River Valley junior Trendon Bishop said. “We got to keep our heads up; I enjoy this team and love the players.”
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementBishop tried to steer RV to victory with 11 first-half points as the Falcons exchanged leads with YC six times in the first half and trailed by a bucket, 27-25 at the break. The biggest lead for either team in the first half was four points.
RV’s leading scorer on the night was 6-foot-4 center Rohit Bagga, who dropped in 18 points, while senior guard Ashaan Cheema added 12, including a fourth-quarter 3-pointer with under a minute left to cut it to five points. RV wouldn’t get any closer as Sukhjeet Sihota knocked down some free-throws down the stretch to finish with a game-high 19 points. Travis Lomeli, another senior missing in YC’s loss to RV on New Years Eve, finished with 13, while Jayvir Rai chipped in 12 – 10 in the opening half.
“We feel like we can hang with anybody,” Evans said. “Twelve Bridges was 16-2 and we played them tough … any given night if we finish strong and close out we can get a ‘W.’”
Bishop said RV will be ready for round three – round two in league – against YC next month, adding that rivalries always add a meaningful layer to any season and any single game.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement“It’s magical,” he said. “I love that everybody in Yuba City can get together and enjoy a good basketball game. At the end of the day this is what we play for and once you win it makes the win a lot more sweeter … We’re going to win the next one for sure.”
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The River Valley-Yuba City varsity girls rivalry was not available by deadline.
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