Guymon races past Clayton for the win

January 18, 2012

Guymon’s Alfredo Garcia handles the ball for the Tigers in the win against Clayton. He also led the team in points with 24 points in the game. Staff photo/Kjestine Steinbring

GUYMON – A fast paced game from the beginning, Guymon boys’ basketball team out paced the Clayton Jackets for the 62-53 win last night. Alfredo Garcia led the team in their scoring effort with 24 points and Javier Ponce added 13.
“I thought we had a complete game today, from beginning to end and on both ends of the floor we played well,” said head coach Tyler Chapman.
Early in first half the Tiger defense was keeping them in the game while their shots weren’t falling. At the end of the first quarter Guymon only had 11 points but they held Clayton to nine giving them the early lead.
“We really want to control the tempo with our pressure and extend our defense, in the first half we were getting wide open looks they just weren’t falling for us,” said Chapman.
In the second shots started to fall more freely for both teams and at halftime Guymon was able to maintain a five-point lead at 25-20.
“Defensively we did a great job of finding their shooters and making them earn every one of their shots,” said Chapman. “There is a lot of hustle in these players, and they play hard and get open looks, that’s all you can ask for.”
That hustle on both ends of the floor gave Guymon plenty of transition offense throughout the game and kept the tempo up for both teams. At the end of the third the Tigers were still up 40-35. The only time Guymon slowed things down was in the final few minutes to try and run the clock out with a nine-point lead.
“I thought we were crisp running sets and disciplined in the half-court. We’ve always said we want to get a quality look in the first 12 seconds,” said Chapman. “Defensively our goal is also to hold our opponents to under 50 points, they got 53 but I’d say that was still a very good effort.”
In the offensive effort Garcia and Ponce led the way, but Andrew Ulibarri added seven and Dakota Harris added six. Like the Lady Tigers the boys also have 11 days off after last night’s game and then they will play Meade on January 28.
*In the newspaper the story lists Guymon as playing Hooker on the 27, that was a mistake on my part. This is the correct next game.