Natomas Triumphs Over Inderkum

NHS COACH AS NIGHTHAWKS HOLD LATE GAME LEAD.

BY TREVOR HORN
THE NATOMAS BUZZ | @natomasbuzz

Record books go out the window in rivalry games.

And with a near-packed house on hand, Natomas High School, winners of just two games coming in Friday night, defeated neighborhood rival Inderkum 61-48.

Led by a 20-point performance by Phillip Morgan and a combined 15 points by Jamarie Preist and Jamison Lyons in the fourth quarter, the Nighthawks (3-16, 2-3) opened up a new chapter in the rivalry with a heated game that proved a seesaw battle throughout.

“It was just fun game to be in as a rival game with a packed house,” Nighthawks guard Jalen Manning said. ‘We were just playing and having fun.”

Preist scored 10 points off the bench, including eight consecutive for Natomas in the fourth quarter that took the game from a 46-44 Inderkum lead to a 52-48 Natomas lead with 2 minutes, 31 seconds left in the game – a lead the Nighthawks never relinquished.

“He came up big today,” Manning said. “(Preist) is a hustle player and likes to get the rebounds. He did a good job tonight.”

Inderkum came in with a 14-7 overall record and was 4-0 in Tri-County Conference games.

But Natomas came out firing, taking an early 12-5 lead. Inderkum fought back, led by Terrence White, who scored 14 of his team-high 18 points in the first half.

Then the high energy and pressing defense of Natomas took over in the fourth quarter for a team that is a far cry from the 0-11 record it had to start the season.

“Anything we can do to find stuff to build on, then we will build on it,” Natomas head coach Brian Hamilton said. “Like I always say, it’s about the kids and having fun. They are smiling and having fun. And we just want to build on anything we can.”

Winners of two of the last three, Hamilton credits the ability of his players to learn on the fly and enjoy themselves as a reason for the turnaround.

And in a rivalry game, emotion comes into play, too.

“A lot had to do with the rivalry and our energy and effort has been much, much better,” Hamilton said. “Our comraderie, the kids are starting to pick it up and stick together and want to play hard.”

The crowd came to their feet in the closing seconds as Morgan threw down a two-handed dunk to cap off the signature win for Natomas.

Inderkum is now tied with Woodland High for first place in TCC with a 4-1 record.

Lyons scored 12 points for Natomas as LD Dhaliwal scored 11 points for Inderkum, including the first seven points of the second half that gave the Tigers their first lead of the game at 32-29.

Lady Tigers Defeat Lady Nighthawks

Amid the first two-game losing streak in league play since 2008, the Inderkum girls ended the slide with a 43-28 win over Natomas in the opening game of the double-header Friday night.

Kyliyah Daniel led the Tigers with 11 points and 16 rebounds in a game that was low scoring for both teams.

The two teams combined for just 29 first half points as Inderkum took a 17-2 lead after the first quarter. But sophomore Hayley Polk helped jump start the Lady Nighthawks with a team-high 14 points, but it wasn’t enough as the Lady Tigers (12-10, 3-2) held a double-digit lead from a 10-0 start to the game, to the end of the contest.

“Whatever it is right now it seems like we are having issues scoring,” Inderkum head coach Phillip Hampton said.

Natomas falls to 3-15 overall and 2-4 in league games, but head coach Stuart Welch said he is taking a positive out of the loss with the advancement of Polk, who dominated the on the junior varsity team this season, but recorded her first double-digit game Friday for the varsity team.

“We tried to get the ball in her hands,” Welch said. “She is a play-maker.”