Natomas Boys, Inderkum Girls Win Friday Double Header

Photo by Jeremiah McWright, NHS intern

BY TREVOR HORN
THE NATOMAS BUZZ | @natomasbuzz

When it comes to a rivalry game, nothing is certain.

The final battle for neighborhood bragging rights between Inderkum and Natomas High School boys basketball teams went from a blowout to a nail biter Friday night in front of a packed house at the The Cage.

The Nighthawks held a 25-point lead early in the fourth quarter, only to see Inderkum cut it to two points with one minute, 18 seconds left in the game. Natomas High finished the regular season with a narrow 69-64 win over the Tigers on Friday night.

The final score was a fitting way to close the Tri-County Conference chapter between the Natomas schools with the Nighthawks moving to the Golden Empire League in the fall.

The Nighthawks (15-8, 9-1) are the TCC champions and Inderkum (10-17, 6-4) finished third in the league. Both teams will advance to the Sac-Joaquin Section playoffs which begin on Feb. 21. Natomas will play in the Division IV bracket and Inderkum will play in DIII. Brackets will be announced at 5 p.m. on Wednesday.

Natomas High went on runs of 13-0 and 15-2 during the second and third quarters, building a double-digit lead thanks to another stellar performance from Phillip Morgan, the front-runner for the league MVP, during the first three quarters of the game. The senior scored 15 of his game-high 30 points in the third quarter alone. He also grabbed 10 rebounds for his second consecutive double-double.

Together, Morgan and freshman Mekhi Williams combined to score 44 of the Nighthawks 61 points before the fourth quarter.

“We both rebound and are strong,” Morgan said. “It’s fun when we are both going because we can both score off each other.”

Natomas High’s pressure on defense and high-octane offense led to break-away dunks and crowd pleasing plays during the first 24 minutes of play.

“That’s been our bread and butter,” Natomas coach Brian Hamilton said. “When we play hard, we are a really good team.”

The senior Tigers quartet of Andrew Ignont, LD Dhaliwal, Nef Torres and Terrence White combined to score 24 of Inderkum’s 26 fourth-quarter points after Natomas had a 63-38 lead. White led Inderkum with 23 points overall and Ignont recorded a double-double with 17 points and a game-high 15 rebounds. Dhaliwal finished with 11 for the Tigers.

“We got ourselves in a deep hole and it was just too deep to climb out of,” Inderkum coach Rodney Haymer said. “If they would have played the first, second and third quarter like they did in the fourth quarter, we would win this game.”

Jemarrio Lollis had seven points and nine rebounds for the Nighthawks. Hamilton says he is “hoping and have my fingers crossed” that Natomas High could be seeded as high as No. 2 in the Division IV playoffs.

Girls Basketball: Inderkum 62, Natomas 26

The Inderkum girls basketball team hounded Natomas High all night en route to a 62-26 victory behind a 14-point, 10 steal performance from sophomore Shymir Mitschan-Baldwin.

Mitschan-Baldwin had nine steals before Inderkum coach Phillip Hampton cleared his starters out with a commanding lead in the regular season finale. But once his coaching staff realized the sophomore guard was just one steal away from double digits, Hampton put her back in for the final minute of the game.

“Ten steals is hard to come by in any stretch of the imagination in one game,” Hampton said. “I wanted to see how hard she would work for that tenth steal because if she can do that tenth steal, I’m going to ask her to do that every night throughout the playoffs.”

Said Mitschan-Baldwin: “It feels amazing. I can’t get it every game, but when I can, I get it.”

Inderkum had 29 steals overall.

The Tigers (16-10, 10-0) clinched the TCC title on Wednesday before capping off an undefeated league record for the third time over the last four seasons.

Natomas High built an early 8-6 lead on Friday before Inderkum went on a 30-0 run which lasted nearly 15 minutes into the third quarter.

Aaliyah Thomas led the Nighthawks with nine points and fellow junior Halle Hamre scored seven.

Kyliyah Daniel scored 11 points and had seven rebounds and five steals for the Tigers. Sanniyah Pippins scored nine and Anthing McCaskel had six points and eight rebounds.

The Tigers hope for a top-eight seed in the Division III playoffs to ensure at least a first round home game.

“This group of girls worked hard all season and they have the right attitudes,” Hampton said. “They bought in to a hard work ethic and it hopefully it continues into the playoffs.”