Vaqueros on target early in win over Ellis-led Olympian
- Updated: December 22, 2015
El Capitan drives into Olympian defenders during a game on Monday. / Photo by Chuck Merino
2015-16 EAST COUNTY PREP BOYS BASKETBALL
By Chris Davis
© East County Sports.com
RANCHO SAN DIEGO (12-22-15) — The last time MARTY ELLIS saw the Vaqueros was the regular season finale last year when he was the head coach at El Cajon Valley. He came away with a 60-51 victory that night in February.
Fast forward 10 months and Ellis is facing the Vaqueros with a vastly different set of players and wearing different colors, as the reigning East County Sports.com Coach of the Year is now at Olympian High (1-8).
El Capitan’s Donald Irvin drives around an Olympian defender on Monday. / Photo by Chuck Merino
KADE KYGAR, DONALD IRVIN and BRENDON HEAD of the El Capitan (4-4) Vaqueros turned the Steele Canyon gym into a shooting gallery. That resulted in 15 three-pointers as part of a 67-57 victory in the Grossmont Winter Classic.
“We played as a team tonight,” Kygar said after the game.
The Vaqueros came out of the gates on fire, putting 23 points on the board in the first quarter, compared to the Eagles’ 10. Fifteen of those 23 points came from distance as the marksmen from Lakeside were dialed in early.
“I have to give credit to the bench,” Head said. “The extra passes really opened me up.”
El Capitan defenders Dominic Iudiciani (11) and Danny Estrada on Monday night. / Photo by Chuck Merino
After the first quarter, Ellis knew how to slow down the Vaquero attack. He guided his troops defensively and the tide turned in Olympians’ favor over the course of the middle two quarters. During that 16-minute time frame the Eagles outscored the Vaqueros 29-24 to make it 47-39 El Capitan at the end of three.
In the fourth quarter, the tide switched back to El Capitan as they hit a trio of three-pointers. But it was the 7 of 10 free throws that really sealed the deal for the Vaqueros.
El Capitan: Kade Kygar 17 (6 reb, 3 ast), Donald Irvin 17 (3 reb, 2 stl, 1 ast), Brendon Head 15 (1 stl, 1 ast), Dominic Iudiciani 6 (9 reb, 3 ast), Colton Sandoval 6), Devin Dulay 4 (2 reb, 3 ast), Danny Estrada 2 (1 reb, 3 ast).
