Heating up: Perry, Beyer will play for Hoop Classic consolation title

Beyer High School sharpshooter Brian Perry floated in space on the offensive end, a grave mistake by Ceres.

Mired in one of the worst shooting slumps of his three-year varsity basketball career, Perry took advantage of the open looks, knocking down six 3s in an 82-51 victory at the 17th annual Holiday Hoop Classic.

“I’ve been in a slump lately. Honestly, it’s the worst I’ve shot in the last couple of years,” said Perry, an All-Modesto Metro Conference and All-District selection last season. “It felt good to finally get out of it.

“I was in my own head. I had one bad game from the 3-point line and let it get to me. I just wasn’t shooting well.”

That changed Thursday morning against a beleaguered Bulldogs defense that sagged off Beyer’s shooters.

The Patriots made a season-high 13 3-pointers and had eight players score in their best offensive performance in nearly a month.

“We were talking about this before the game. We haven’t played well since Clovis West,” Beyer coach Kyle McKim said, referring to the Patriots’ victory over the Golden Eagles in the final of the Modesto City Classic on Dec. 3.

The Patriots (8-4) will play for the Holiday Hoop Classic consolation title for the second consecutive year. Last season, Beyer lost to Freedom.

“It would be pretty big. Just to go 3-1 in this tournament ... it’s a tough tournament,” Perry said. “Everyone talks about it. To come out with one loss would be pretty big for our program.”

On Friday, the Patriots will play Clovis East at 4:30 p.m. and look to close out the Classic with three consecutive wins. Clovis East defeated Berkeley in the other consolation semifinal, 60-53.

“Three” was the magic number against Ceres, one of the tournament’s surprising stories.

The Bulldogs (6-7) put a scare into defending champion Modesto Christian in their opener and then beat Castlemont of Oakland on Wednesday to set up a showdown with Beyer, the top public-school program in the city of Modesto.

Ceres took a 13-7 lead on Inder Sandhu’s 3-pointer, but the game changed on the next possession. Perry found space along the wing, triggering a 12-0 run with a 3-pointer.

Perry finished with a career-high 33 points, including 18 in the first half as the Patriots raced out to a 40-27 advantage.

Jaden Cobb had 13 points for Beyer.

“Most teams stick on me from the start,” said Perry, who had four 3s in the first half. “They don’t usually give me that much space.”

Not that he was complaining.

Perry’s shooting woes coincided with Beyer’s struggles. The Patriots lost three of four games heading into the tournament and then surrendered a fourth-quarter lead against El Cerrito in their opener.

They’ve found their form in the consolation bracket, though, surviving an emotionally charged game against Central Catholic and blasting Ceres.

“We hit a rough patch,” said Perry, who in the third quarter eclipsed his previous season high of 26. “I can’t remember the last time we’ve lost four that quick. It feels good to get a couple of wins and get back on track.”

Cristian Garcia led the Bulldogs with 17 points. Haaydn Martinez followed Wednesday’s 18-point outing with nine points.

Ceres will play Berkeley for 11th place on Friday at noon.

Central Catholic 65, Castlemont 27 – Josh Hamilton had 22 points and three assists for the Raiders (8-2), who snapped a two-game losing streak with a runaway victory over the short-handed Knights.

Cooper Wilson chipped in 11 and Conor Fenton pulled down a team-high seven rebounds. Jared Rice had eights points and three assists for Central Catholic, which will play Modesto on Friday in the 13th-place game.

The Raiders took the suspense out of Thursday’s game early, jetting to a 38-12 halftime lead.

Modesto 78, Delhi 40 – Ryan Silva led four Panthers in double figures with 15 points.

Colton Cruce had 12 and Markus Brady and Esteban Martin finished with 10 apiece for Modesto (4-5), which led 20-7 after the first quarter.

Delhi (3-8) is winless in its Classic debut, but forward Chance Browning shone in front of the sparse morning crowd.

Browning has scored in double figures in all three games, averaging nearly 16 points. He had a team-high 11 against Modesto.

El Cerrito 59, Turlock 45 – Michael Patterson had 14 points and freshman 6-foot-6 center Everett Johnson had nine points and flirted with a double-double, but the Bulldogs dropped their second in a row.

Turlock will play Freedom in the seventh-place game Friday at 1:30 p.m.

El Cerrito took control with a 9-0 run in the third quarter. Tyler Dickson led three Gauchos in double figures with 12. Kamiri Smith and Edward Gray had 11 apiece for El Cerrito, which will battle Immanuel of Reedley for fifth place.

This story was originally published December 29, 2016 at 2:55 PM with the headline "Heating up: Perry, Beyer will play for Hoop Classic consolation title."