‘We’re coming along’: Modesto Christian claims top spot in TCAL with big win over Lincoln
The Modesto Christian basketball team did not need extra motivation or additional film study to get ready for Friday night’s Tri-City Athletic League home game. It knew what it was up against.
The Crusaders, ranked third in the Sac-Joaquin Section, were tested with a matchup against a top 10 team in the Sac-Joaquin Section, welcoming No. 7 Lincoln of Stockton to determine who takes over the top spot in the league. They welcomed the Trojans just two games after playing No. 4 St. Mary’s. The Trojans entered the contest rolling as winners of eight straight contests. Both were 3-0 in league play.
“We respect Lincoln and we always get their best,” Modesto Christian coach Brice Fantazia said. “They’re well coached, they play hard. You always know it’s going to be a battle with Lincoln.”
They had done all of the preparation they could during the week with six hours of film and even more time on the court ironing out the wrinkles, so Fantazia gave the team the afternoon off.
“We had a minimum day today and normally after school we have a shoot around, walkthrough and film,” Fantazia said. “Today I said go to the mall, stay together, go eat, go hang out. There was nothing we were gonna do today to get us more ready for Lincoln. We could continue to build as a team and I think that they’re doing that.”
The team added four new players that have become integral pieces to the team’s success since they became eligible at the end of December. The free afternoon was his way to keep the team relaxed and together and help them continue to get closer off the court, which will in turn translate to continued progress on the court.
“We’re coming along, but we haven’t had a lot of time,” Fantazia said of the team’s improvement over the past two weeks. “As soon as the boys got eligible, it’s been game after game. We’ve played 11 games and 17 days, some of those days are Sundays where we can’t practice.”
The Crusaders outscored Lincoln 55-37 over the final three quarters of Friday night’s contest to beat the Trojans 68-53, taking firm control of first place in the TCAL with a 4-0 record and beating their second Sac-Joaquin Section top 10 team in three games.
Lincoln took a three-point lead after Donez Lindsey beat the first-quarter buzzer with a half court heave but the second quarter was dominated by junior guard Gavin Sykes. The 6-foot-4 national recruit scored nine points in the frame to help give the Crusaders a 32-24 halftime lead.
Modesto Christian did not trail at all in the second half. Marcus Washington finished as the team’s second-leading scorer with 15 points and Myles Jones added seven.
“Our whole goal this year is to three-peat as Division I section champions, that’s another thing that’s never been done in MC history winning the D-I championship three times,” Fantazia said. “Like we said in the locker room, tonight was a stepping stone to that. Getting a jump up in league and our league is really good this year.”
The Crusaders’ largest deficit Friday night was six points. When they fell behind 20-14 in the second quarter, it was Sykes and senior guard Jeremiah Bernard that shifted the momentum back to the home team.
Bernard cut the lead to four with a driving left-handed layup. The Crusaders’ leader and do-it-all point guard will attend Cal Poly on a football scholarship. He consistently guards the opposing team’s best player and finished with 10 points, nine rebounds and four assists.
“He’s definitely our leader,” Fantazia said. “He’s been in the battles. He’s been in NorCal championship and started for us last year. He’s the fiber of the blood of our program. … I tell everyone I think if he was strictly a basketball player, he would be a Division I basketball player. You see what he does and it’s just kind of part time basketball. Obviously when it’s basketball season he outworks everyone. He’s extremely good. And he’s an even better human being.”
Sykes subbed in with just under six minutes left in the quarter and immediately went to work, scoring Modesto Christian’s next nine points to give the Crusaders a 22-20 lead. The junior, who entered Friday’s matchup averaging a team-high 22.4 points per game, finished with a game-high 27 points.
“Gavin Sykes is the best player in the section,” Fantazia said. “And he does it kind of so effortlessly, it doesn’t feel like he had 27 tonight. And he guarded Lincoln’s second best player. He’s just scratching the surface of how good he’s gonna be.”
To get where they want, the Crusaders can’t be stagnant.
Fantazia’s message to the young, talented team is if it peaks now, there isn’t anything more to work toward. At times Friday night the ball moved seamlessly from one Crusader to another. In the fourth quarter, Dre’Von Johnson set a screen for Sykes on the wing and Sykes hit him on a roll to the hoop. When the driving lane to the basket was cut off, Johnson whipped a pass along the baseline to Bernard who made the extra pass to Myles Jones who connected on a deep three to give the Crusaders a 55-44 lead. Fantazia wants to see more of that unselfishness.
He also wants to see the team continue to dominate on the glass and continue to improve as an outside shooting team.
“That’ll come, we don’t want to peak until playoffs,” he said. “We still have a lot of improvement to do … we’re nowhere close to where we’re going to be.”
