The Coronado Boys Varsity Basketball team took on the Preuss Tritons Friday night in the Islander Hoops Tournament. The Islanders started fast, making 4 of their first 5 shots to take a 8-0 lead midway through the first quarter. Soon after, Coronado’s Myles Manning drove the lane and scored. With 1 minute left in the first, #34 Caden Gentry took the ball strong to the hoop and scored. On the next possession, Gentry drained a 3 pointer to put the Islanders up 15-9 at the end of one quarter.
Coronado tightened their half court press at the start of the second quarter leading to an immediate steal and fast break lay-up by Josef Perez. After another Triton turnover, Caden Gentry was fouled on a breakaway and converted both free throws. Coronado started to pull away when Gentry blew past his defender on the right wing, making a reverse lay-up for a 21-9 Islander lead. Preuss started to claw back into the game by making good on their free throws. With 1 minute left in the half, Coronado called a time out to set up an in bounds play. The strategy paid off when Jake Herman sunk a 3 point shot from the corner which gave the hosts a 32-18 halftime lead.
#40 Dejon Jackson started the scoring in the second half with an impressive drive in traffic resulting in the only slam dunk of the game. Jackson followed that feat with a put back rebound, was fouled, and converted the 3 point play. With the Coronado defensive pressure taking it’s toll on the visiting cagers, Coronado’s offense remained clicking on all cylinders. Caden Gentry, who led all scorers, made a pull up jumper and Scott Hendricks scored off an offensive rebound, keeping the Islanders up comfortably 47-26 at the end of the third quarter.
Coronado continued their dominance over the Tritons in the final period. With balanced scoring, Myles Manning popped a 17 foot jumper and Vaughn Madriaga sank two free throws. #30 Jack Rinko made the hi-lite real by slipping in behind defenders for an acrobatic put back. Late in the game, #24 David Grant-Williams drove strong to the hoop for 2 of his 10 points. The final score was 62-37 as the Islanders took care of business on their home court. Caden Gentry led Coronado with 15 points, followed by 10 points each by Myles Manning and David Grant-Williams. Dejon Jackson pitched in with 8.
Saturday, the Islanders tip off with the Castle Park Trojans at 2:05pm at Coronado High School.
