BY TREVOR HORN
THE NATOMAS BUZZ | @natomasbuzz
Rodney Haymer knows there is discord within his team.
So after the Tigers lost 77-76 to McClatchy Friday afternoon at the Cordova Christmas Classic, Inderkum High’s head basketball coach pulled his seniors into the locker room for an impromptu 20-minute post-game meeting to clear the air.
“They feel it is basically it is a one-man show,” Haymer said of junior Terrence White’s second, consecutive double-digit game. “We have to do some things to get back to a team concept and because the bottom line is that if Terrence scores 50 and we lose, it doesn’t matter – we still lost.”
The Tigers (8-5) have lost the last three games after a four-game win streak going into a tournament championship game in Reno last weekend. Haymer said he feels his team is still capable of that high level of play that he saw from his players just a week ago.
“I truly believe we have a serious shot at winning the section title,” Haymer said.
The Tigers had a 61-54 lead going into the final quarter Friday against McClatchy. However, the team seemed to lapse into a lull as White accounted for most points during the fourth quarter.
“I think it is execution,” White said. “And we are making silly mistakes.”
Twice late in the game, with only two minutes left, White was called for traveling while driving to the basket. And with 35.3 seconds to play and down 74-73, an errant pass forced another costly last minute turnover for Inderkum as the Lions took a 77-73 lead on two free throws by Michael Cody with 10.2 seconds to play. White made a three-pointer to bring the Tigers within one, but Inderkum was unable to foul before the clock ran out.
White scored 41 points at at the Cordova Christmas Classic while LD Dhaliwal scored nine and Lawrence Green chipped in with eight.
“We got the ship turned, it is just now that we have to get our oars in the water and paddling all at the same time,” Haymer said.
The Tigers will play Rosemont at 3 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 29 in the seventh place game.
Inderkum girls basketball: Inderkum is on a four-game win streak after beating American Canyon 50-30 on the second day of the Dixon Ram Jam Winter Classic in Dixon. Sakara Brewer led the Tigers (9-6) with 19 points and Kyliyah Daniel recorded a double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds. Inderkum plays Davis Saturday, Dec. 29 at 6:30 p.m. Davis is ranked No. 17 and beat the Tigers 75-49 in Davis on Dec. 4.
Natomas High boys basketball: The Nighthawks (0-11) lost to Center 42-31 on Friday in the second round of the consolation bracket at the Whitney Winter Classic in Rocklin. The game was tied 17-17 at halftime. The Nighthawks will play Paradise at 1:30 p.m. in the seventh place game on Saturday, Dec. 29.
Wrestling: Natomas finished day one of the No Guts No Glory Tourament at Natomas High on Friday. The Nighthawks have 30 team points and six wrestlers who have advanced to the quarterfinals starting at 9 a.m. on Saturday, Dec. 29. Tallhas Fayyaz (120 pounds), Daniel Torres (138), Alex Gonzalez (145), Rafael Pantoja (170), Jordan Sepeda (220) and Joey Ames (285) all advanced for Natomas.
Inderkum is in 23rd place overall with 13 team points and three wrestlers advancing. Inderkum wrestlers Ruben Escalante (126), Jaime Villar (145) and Issac Mendoza (182) advanced to day two.
There are 30 schools represented in the tournament with 264 wrestlers. Here is the complete list of Natomas-area wrestlers and the quarterfinal opponents starting at 9 a.m. Saturday:
120 – Tallhah Fayyaz (Natomas) vs. Jake Hugher (Lindhurst)
126 – Ruben Escalante (Inderkum) vs. Josh Mason (Placer)
138 – Daniel Torres (Natomas) vs. Ian Mackell (Rocklin)
145 – Alex Gonzalez (Natomas) vs. Alex Cooney (Granite Bay)
145 – Jaime Villar (Inderkum) vs. Paris Gaulman (Sheldon)
170 – Rafael Pantoja (Natomas) vs. Jake Wiley (Durham)
182 – Isaac Mendoza (Inderkum) vs. Andrew Zamaran (Woodcreek)
220 – Jordan Sepeda (Natomas) vs. Jordan Colby (West Campus)
285 – Joey Ames (Natomas) vs. Peter Barker (Antelope)
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Send story ideas to Trevor @ [email protected] and follow on Twitter @trevhorn
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