Yellowjacket basketball suffers defeat against rivals

Mike Wexler, Sports Desk

In the first rivalry game out of three of the regular season, Colton Varsity Basketball got struck first as they suffered a loss to the Grand Terrace Titans, 74-37, leaving the hyped Colton crowd silent. Both teams were hot from the beginning, giving the fans a classic match to remember. It wasn’t until later in the game where the Titans took ultimate control and won in a blowout fashion.

At the start of the game, the storied rivalry between Colton and Grand Terrace took its toll for its fourth year as both teams came out of the gates firing at all cylinders. However, the battle to gain a lead ended when Grand Terrace’s own Senior Brandon Walker capped a strong continuation of nonstop three point bombs to get the Titans’ offense going. To get back into the swing of things, Junior Shooting Guard Johnathan Uloa helped the varsity squad get back into the scoring mix as he led the team for the charge with ten points.

After an uphill battle from the first quarter, the second quarter was anything but the same. The Yellowjackets could not handle the heat that the Titans were producing on the offensive floor as the Titans’ own Devin Martin engaged a whole barrage of threes and multiple assists to get his whole team involved in the scoring stretch. The Jackets would attempt to get back into the game but failed to do so to end the half.

As the halftime period ended, the intensity of the game skyrocketed as Colton came out on fire, digging themselves out of the gap early. Senior Shooting Guard Noah Martinez and Junior Juan Alvarez contributed to the comeback at a combined twelve points, getting the hometown crowd on their feet. The comeback didn’t last long however as Grand Terrace gained the upperhand in offense and took total control for the rest of the game. This would hand Colton their 19th straight loss this season.