Sloppy to start, Beyer battles back to reach consolation final

Beyer High School threw passes out of bounds and fumbled the dribble Tuesday but never lost its confidence … even as the deficit ballooned to 16.

Instead, the Patriots, hardened by more than 100 games in two years, stayed the course and eventually caught McClymonds.

Sacramento State-bound guard Georgie Dancer was largely responsible for the comeback, scoring 14 of his 25 points in the second half as the Patriots advanced to the consolation bracket final with a 66-59 victory.

Beyer (10-3) will play Freedom of Oakley on Wednesday at 4:30 p.m. Freedom topped Pleasant Grove 64-52 in the other consolation bracket semifinal.

For the third day in a row at the Holiday Hoop Classic, Beyer weathered adversity. Sam Leventini and Ryan Frakes scored 10 points apiece for the Patriots, who trailed 47-43 through three quarters.

Coach Kyle McKim shouldered the blame for the slow start and praised his players for the save.

Beyer’s nucleus – shaped around Dancer and sharp-shooting guards Frakes, Tanner Gentry and Deangelo Dancer – has played 112 games over the past two years and they’ve experienced it all. Sixteen points wasn’t a daunting hill to climb, especially when the deficit was created by turnovers.

“It was all on me. We shouldn’t have come out and pressed them,” McKim said. “We didn’t have the right game plan or mindset at the start of it. It’s on me. We made some adjustments and picked it up in the second quarter to cut into it. In the second half, the kids made up their minds that they want to play hard, and we played pretty well.”

McClymonds couldn’t have scripted a better start to the game. The Warriors raced to a 23-7 lead in the first quarter, taking advantage of the Patriots’ bumbling offense. Beyer had about as many turnovers (eight) as points (10) in the first quarter.

JeMarieve Clark Jr. led the Warriors with 20 points, and Damarea Reed scored 12 of his 16 in the first half. McClymonds scored 14 points off Beyer turnovers in the first half.

The Patriots didn’t panic. They had been down before.

“I’ve coached so many of these guys for three or four years. We’ve been through so much together. At the end of the day, we’ve been through so many different situations. We can fall back on so many experiences where we’ve been in bad spots and come back,” McKim said. “It’s huge for us. They have a lot of trust in each other and trust in what we want to do.”

That camaraderie shined in the second half as Beyer ripped off runs of 13-0 and 8-0 to start the third and fourth quarters.

The Patriots took their first lead at the 3:55 mark of the third quarter on a layup by Georgie Dancer.

As Beyer’s confidence swelled, the passing improved. Players who couldn’t string together passes in the first quarter suddenly were throwing blind feeds to one another in the paint. Dancer was often the beneficiary of those passes, cutting behind his defender for plays at the rim.

Freshman Dom Dancer led his brother down the lane for a layup, seeing the play before it developed.

Frakes, Dancer and Leventini combined for a layup without putting the ball on the floor to make it 59-54.

One possession later, Georgie Dancer bounced a skip pass to Deangelo Dancer in the corner. He knocked down the three-pointer as the shot clock expired.

“That’s how we want to play, inside-out and trusting each other,” McKim said.

Freedom 64, Pleasant Grove 52 – DeShawnte Collins had nine points and 10 rebounds as Freedom dominated the glass to advance to the consolation bracket final. Tre’von Collins scored 17 points and John Ketchel 13 for the Falcons, who led by eight at the intermission.

Weston Ranch 67, El Camino Real 63 – Jaelen Ragsdale shot 10 of 13 and scored a game-high 31 points for the Cougars, who bounced back from a blowout loss to Long Beach Poly. Fred Lavender scored 19 points and D’Angelo Finley had nine points and 10 rebounds as Weston Ranch led by 10 in the fourth quarter.

The Cougars play Centennial for fifth place at 3 p.m. Wednesday.

Centennial 62, Manteca 49 – Kenny Wooten Jr. lifted off from outside the key, throwing down a one-handed slam midway through the second quarter. That was the only highlight for the Buffaloes, who have lost two straight to fall into the seventh-place game.

Three players scored in double figures for Centennial, which led by 10 at halftime and 15 after three quarters. Malcolm Johnson led the way with 18 points, while Aleczander Check and Joel Melton had 12 and 10.

Wooten (16) and Anand Hundal (15) led Manteca.

Saugus 71, Gregori 55 – K.J. Deiker had 17 points for Gregori, which will close the tournament against Turlock in the 15th-place game.

Buchanan 66, Turlock 47 – Shawn Grewal had 13 points and Montrell Dennis nine for the Bulldogs, who have lost 13 of their 14 games.

Buchanan had three players in double figures: Donovan Mitchell with 16, Cory Williams 14 and Spencer Heimerdinger 12.

This story was originally published December 29, 2015 at 8:00 PM with the headline "Sloppy to start, Beyer battles back to reach consolation final."