A tough defense and a burst of scoring from senior guard Jeff
Yeung was the recipe for success for the Live Oak High boys
basketball team again as the Acorns routed host Gunderson 67-37 on
Thursday.
A tough defense and a burst of scoring from senior guard Jeff Yeung was the recipe for success for the Live Oak High boys basketball team again as the Acorns routed host Gunderson 67-37 on Thursday.
Yeung tossed in a team-high 13 points to lead Live Oak to victory as the Acorns remained unbeaten on the young season. Live Oak improved to 3-0 overall heading into this week’s Wildcat Shoot-Out at Los Gatos High.
Live Oak, the tourney’s defending champion, is scheduled to play Leigh on Thursday at 7 p.m. in its opening-round game at the Shoot-Out. Leigh (5-1 overall) is led by 6-foot-5 senior Marcus Morgan, who is one of the area’s top scorers and rebounders. The Longhorns are a member of the Blossom Valley Athletic League.
The Acorns are also in the same tournament bracket as Armijo of Fairfield and Pioneer of San Jose.
The tournament begins Wednesday and continues through Saturday, when the finals will be held.
In last week’s victory over Gunderson, Live Oak came out hot and took a 17-5 first-quarter lead behind 10 points from Yeung, who finished with a team-high 13.
“(Yeung) was making steals and getting easy layups,” Acorn coach Brett Paolucci said. “He’s allowing his defense to create his offense. He’s been just great. (Gunderson was) scrappy. They had some quick guards. But we played a good defensive game again.”
Gunderson hung around into halftime, trailing by just 31-21, before the Acorns pulled away in the second half. Live Oak led 52-31 at the end of the third quarter, then outscored the Grizzlies 15-6 in the fourth quarter to provide the final margin.
“We played great in the second half,” Paolucci said.
Acorn forward Matt Van Kuelan scored 11 points for the Acorns, putting together another solid effort in relief of injured starter Brandon Powell. Despite Powell’s impending return to the lineup, Paolucci said Van Kuelan has played himself into a starting role for now.
“It just adds more power for us, more options,” Paolucci said.
Junior guard Doug Porras added eight points, including six-for-eight from the free-throw line, for Live Oak.
