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Trojans lose conference opener

Okey Amuzie • January 26, 2003

     The Skyline Trojans (13-10, 0-1) opened their basketball Coast Conference North play against Ohlone (16-7, 1-0) on the short end of a 69-56 score Jan. 17.
     The Renegade came out against Skyline with a lot of intensity to begin the game.
     Ohlone forced 20 Trojan turnovers according to the Renegade stats that turned into points on fast breaks, in which Ohlone went up 21-17 with 6:15 to play in the first half which forced Skyline to call a time-out. Ohlone forced Skyline to play an up-tempo kind of game in which the Trojans tried to match. At halftime the Renegade was up 31-25.

“Ohlone did a good job on forcing us to play faster then we want,” said Skyline head coach Tony Raffetto. “We got to do a better job on handling pressure. Not only do we gotta beat the pressure we got to make them pay for it. And tonight in the first half we broke the pressure we didn’t do a good job on scoring we didn’t make those lay ups.”

Ohlone freshman Mychal Green, against Skyline scored 32 points in their previous meeting at the Skyline College Classic Tournament and scored 20 against the Trojans Jan. 17.

Point guard Scoot Holbrook looks on as Rod Picou races towards the basket in the first half at Skyline’s recent home game against Ohlone. Ohlone won 69 – 56 Jan. 17. Picou scored 10 points.

     “He is a good player,” Raffetto said. “He made some big shots down the stretch. He is a first team all conference player and a possible candidate for player of the year. He has got me twice 32 and 20. He did an excellent job, he is their best player for a reason.”
     Green’s playing style is to drive down the lane and score high percentage shots against any opponent.
     “That’s my game, just drive it to the basket,” Green said. “Shoot jump shots when they are there, I could drive and get people into foul trouble try to help us win by driving. So, I try to drive and make things happen for my teammates and myself.”
     Two Trojan starters and Rod Picou were in double figures against Ohlone.
     Eldridge Henderson, Tremaine Fuqua, and Picou scored 12, 11, and 10 points respectively, to try to keep Skyline in the game. Henderson was scoring on jump shots. Both Fuqua and Picou racked up their points from both the key and the free throw line shooting 7 for 10 and 2 for 2.
     “The guy that hurt us more than anybody was Fuqua,” said Ohlone head coach John Peterson. “He can get a catch whenever he wants and wherever he wants. That is a hard matchup for us and it will be the second time when we play. If he is playing inspired, like I thought he did tonight, they are going to be hard to beat.”
     Peterson added that Henderson scored a few points by breaking away from Ohlone’s press.
     Fuqua said that both himself and Picou were getting buckets inside to get their team going.
     “We tried to put the ball in the post as much as we could. That is how me and Rod got most of our points.” Fuqua said.

Trojans defeat Siskiyous

     In a closely fought game Skyline edged out Siskiyous 70-69 Jan. 11.
     In a game that had its ups and downs, Skyline roared out of the gates on a 8-0 run capped off by Eldridge Henderson, who scored 19 points, hit a jump shot, causing Siskiyous to call a timeout with 17:16 in the first half.
     The Trojan lead would dwindle down from a three point lead 22-19 to a two point deficit 24-22 with 5:50 to play after Siskiyous’ Michael Stockhammer shot a three pointer to tie the game and Orlando Ellison scored on a lay up. Stockhammer and Ellison scored 12 and two points respectively. The lead would stand until the second half. This came when Skyline forward Jason Holman missed two technical foul free throws.
     “After (Jason Holman) missed those shots,” said Skyline forward Tremaine Fuqua who scored 17 points. “Siskiyous started to fight back, and at halftime our coaches told us to play hard and start playing together, that is what we did and we came back and won.”
     In the second half Siskiyous continued to play well. In the beginning of the second half after having a three point lead 33-30 at halftime. Siskiyous came out and scored the first five points of the second half.
     The Trojans rallied to come back and both Henderson and Fuqua scored on big plays. Henderson, with his team down by five in the second half 40-35 scored on a jump shot to cut the deficit to three points.
     “I knew we were going into season soon,” Henderson said. “The last couple of games I knew I had to step it up and get ready for that, come out aggressive and everything. I try not to do so much and I try not to do no less than what I have been doing.”
     Once Skyline regained the lead Fuqua scored on a three-point play to help the Trojans up there lead to 59-54. Even though Siskiyous lost their lead, they still played tough but not well enough to win the game.
     “We knew we were going to have a big game today,” Henderson said. “We knew they were going to play hard. We knew we had to do the same thing. We did that and we ended up coming through.”

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Trojans lose conference opener

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