From STAFF REPORTS There is no drama as to where Bryce Hamilton is going to school. He’ll be in Las Vegas starting in the fall of 2018. The only thing left is to see if he can lead the Bulldogs to a CIF-SS championship along with his tag-team partner, and the area’s best point guard, […]
From STAFF REPORTS
There is no drama as to where Bryce Hamilton is going to school. He’ll be in Las Vegas starting in the fall of 2018.
The only thing left is to see if he can lead the Bulldogs to a CIF-SS championship along with his tag-team partner, and the area’s best point guard, Darius Brown II.
Not to mention, people are curious to see if he can put up the type of numbers he did in his junior year.
So far, Hamilton has been near what he scored last year, but the rebounding stats had tapered off a bit.
Some of that might be due to the addition of Tavian Percy, who on most nights this season has led PHS on the boards.
But on Friday at the Damien Tournament, Hamilton had the numbers so many are used to hearing/seeing from a Bulldogs’ basketball game.
The senior finished with 34 points and 14 rebounds, and did so on 14-of-22 shooting.
PHS (6-4) needed every point he had in him, as well as him teammates, because of this bipolar contest.
The Bulldogs defeated Vista, 60-57, after holding on to their 19-point halftime lead.
PHS took a 33-14 lead into the half, and Vista outscored the Bulldogs, 43-27 the rest of the way.
Darius Brown II deserves a lot of credit for having the heart and stones to play on a gimpy ankle, because he knows just how much his teammates need him to run the show.
DBII had 10 points, 8 assists and 3 rebounds.
The Bulldogs have one more tournament game to go and then have four days off before beginning Pacific League play on Wednesday at Crescenta Valley.
The hope is Brown will spend the next 96 hours watching football and getting back as close to 100% as possible.
Another solid sign for Coach Tony Brooks’ program is that 8 different players scored on Friday.
The Bulldogs have counted greatly on Hamilton, Brown and Percy for scoring thus far.
PHS finishes up the Damien Tournament on Saturday against Rancho Christian at 2:30.
Quotable:
PHS coach Tony Brooks: “I thought we came out in the beginning of the game playing Pasadena Basketball. Playing great defense and running great offensive sets that gave us clean looks at the basket. We knew that Vista was a really good team with Division 1 players and plenty of big game experience. So although we opened up a big lead, it was never a comfortable one. They made a great run in the second half, but I like the way we responded when things didn’t go well for a stretch. We were very poised. This time of the year is when we start to catch our stride and I thought we did that. The problem is we are playing teams that are very good and know how to deal withtheir own challenges. It’s awesome to compete with these great teams. Pasadena basketball has never had a schedule that consisted of great team after great team. I am very proud of my team. I have to believe this will serve us well as we continue this journey.”
PHS senior Bryce Hamilton: “We’re playing against really good teams in the tournaments so far, and even in games we lose, we could have won. So, we’re trying to learn from mistakes and correct them. In terms of rebounds today, I decided to be more aggressive on the boards. I’m really glad to see us more balanced offensively. Every guy on this team should have the confidence to score whenever we need it.”
PHS senior Darius Brown II: “We were playing tougher defense in the first half. We eased off in the second and let the scoreboard get the better of us. This tournament was a litmus test for us to see where we stood against the best teams. This was a good test to see where we stand. If’ I’m not playing, that doesn’t give us an accurate measurement of where we are. It’s very important to get everyone involved. The more our confidence is there, the better we are as a team.”
PHS scoring: Bryce Hamilton 34, Darius Brown II 10, Taviian Percy 5, Darius Mason 4, Omari Moore 2, Roman Soloman 2, Jesse Watkins 2, Laz Morris 1.
PHS shooting: 22 of 47 for 47-percent.
3-Point shooting: 4 of 12 for 33-percent
Free-Throw shooting: 12 of 16 for 75-percent
Rebounds: 30
Box Score:
PHS: 18-15-14-13-(60)
Vista: 4-10-20-23-(57)
Records:
PHS (7-4); Vista (10-4)
