Trojans send Pirates to the plank

The Orland High varsity boys basketball team conquered the visiting Wheatland Pirates at home on Friday, holding the visiting team to only 16 first-half points in a dominating 66-39 Butte View League victory.

It was a collective scoring effort on the part of the Trojans that earned them the win, with multiple players pitching in points throughout the game.

Orland kept a clean fouling slate for the entire first half, sending no Pirate to the free-throw line, and holding Wheatland to only eight points in the first quarter.

Kavi Ram, one of the Trojans' big offensive forces in the first quarter, finished with 15 points on the board.

During the second quarter, Ram and Jesus Llamas played particularly well, with both playing strong defense, while Llamas threw in an impressive assist to an attacking Sailsbery, who then took the ball to the hoop. Orland passed so well throughout the meeting that the Pirates often seemed at a loss as to what direction the ball would head.

The Trojans would go into halftime relatively unchallenged until the last seconds of the half, when a Wheatland player picked the ball on an incoming pass and run it down the court, but Ram followed stride for stride and laid down a huge block on the attempted lay-up. This throwdown gave the Orland fans and the players something else besides the 26-16 lead to be excited about going into intermission.

As the third quarter got underway, Orland came out and stronger on all fronts, continuing with all players on the court making plays happen and everyone scoring, with Llamas and Javone Bradford making multiple plays in the paint as well as dishing the ball to their teammates.

Andrew Hutchens began the bulk of his scoring run during the second half. Hutchens hit a pivotal three-point shot after a small scoring run from Wheatland that send an obvious message. Hutchens was the points leader for the Trojans, scoring 17 on the night.

Orland was out to win this game, and the Pirates were not going to stop them. Bradford's scoring was also impressive, as he scored six of his eight points during the third quarter alone. Llamas finished the night with 10 points and five assists.

Again, while the Pirates sent the Orland players to the free-throw line six times during the third period, the Trojans kept their play foul-free.

The assists, passing and clean play of Orland helped keep the Pirates score low, as the Trojans out ran the visiting side 24-12, leaving the score 50-29 headed into the last quarter of the game.

After holding the Pirates to a low-scoring game in the three previous quarters, the Trojans rotated players and allowed for some to come off the bench. This changed little in Wheatland's fortune, as all the players that were substituted into the game played as exceptionally as the starters, still out-scoring and out-hustling the Pirates in every way.

Trojans coach Jason Bragg was pleased with the victory at home, saying, "I'm very proud of the team, and of the effort they put in tonight. It's also nice to get the bench players in, and also have them show how well they can play. Everyone gives 100 percent in practice, and they deserve to play."

The Trojans (15-6, 3-0 BVL) faced Winters on the road Tuesday, and plays at Gridley Friday.

CONTACT Emily Saint-Evens at 824-7990 or esaintevens@tcnpress.com