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Bulldogs go unscathed in January; perfect in league

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Ramona High’s boys basketball team won all eight games the Bulldogs played in January, averaging 78-1/2 points on offense and a 28-7/8-point margin of victory.

“We came back (from winter break) and the ball is just moving and we just have this confidence about us,” said coach Zack Cole. “We’re playing with confidence. We’re playing together as a team.”

The Bulldogs ended the month with an overall record of 18-4 and a Valley League mark of 4-0.

“We’ve been dominating the second half of games,” Cole said. “We come out at half and just really take games over.”

Different starters have led the team in scoring, and the Bulldogs are also relying on bench points.

“I think we wear teams out with our depth,” Cole said.

The Bulldogs, who begin the second round of Valley League play Friday at Mission Vista, followed an 87-61 home win against El Cajon Valley on Jan. 2 and a 77-36 home victory Jan. 8 against Mar Vista with a trip to Eastlake for a Jan. 13 contest that ended with the Bulldogs on the preferred end of the 70-51 score.

“It was a good game. They’re a good team,” Cole said.

Four Bulldog players scored in double figures: Blake Seits had 18 points, Greg Knight contributed 16 points, and Logan Knudson and Marco Cobian scored 11 points each. Calvin Harris added 6 points.

“A balance of scoring started,” Cole said. “Since then we haven’t looked back.”

The Bulldogs concluded the pre-league portion of their season with a 77-48 win Jan. 15 at Crawford.

“We just continued to roll there,” Cole said. “We continued our balanced scoring.”

Cobian scored 18 points against the Colts, Seits had 16 points, Adam Doucette provided 9 points, Austin Pierce contributed 8 points, and Ben Stein and Chayton Lloyd each gave the Bulldogs 7 points. Lloyd, a sophomore, was called up from the junior varsity and made his varsity debut at Crawford.

Ramona scored 21 points in each of the final two quarters to defeat Crawford.

“They have a scrappy little team. They played hard,” Cole said of the Colts.

Although teams usually don’t pay attention to the championship banners in an opponent’s gym, Crawford’s 1980 Western League basketball championship was won in part due to the play of senior Kenny Scheib, who eventually spent nine years as Ramona’s boys varsity basketball coach.

Valley League play began Jan. 20, when Ramona hosted Mission Vista.

“That was probably the best game we played all year in terms of both sides of the ball,” Cole said.

Ramona’s margin of victory over the Timberwolves was 90-56.

“Our shots were falling from all over the place in that game,” Cole said.

Ten Bulldog players scored.

“That’s the only way you’re able to get to 90 points in a game,” Cole said.

Seits led Ramona with 31 points, Cobian had 15 points, Harris provided 10 points, Jake Newman scored 8 points, Knight contributed 6 points, Stein and Lloyd had 5 points apiece, Knudson and Pierce each added 4 points, and Hunter Gurrola scored 2 points.

Mission Vista was ranked first among Division IV teams at the time of the game.

“I was really pleased with our boys that night,” Cole said. “We just really played out of our minds.”

On Jan. 22 Ramona held only a 25-19 halftime lead against Oceanside before finalizing the home game with a 75-49 victory.

“They did a good job of playing hard with a lot of energy,” Cole said of the Pirates. “We had to play a full game.”

Scoring advantages of 24-12 in the third period and 26-18 in the fourth quarter contributed to the final score. The game included 19 points by Newman, 17 from Seits, 13 scored by Cobian, 9 from Knudson, 8 by Knight, and 6 from Harris.

Ramona’s 74-57 home win Jan. 27 against Valley Center included 17 points by Cobian, 15 from Knight, 14 by Seits, 12 from Newman, 7 by Pierce, and 6 from Harris.

“Ever since league has started, teams have been really focusing on trying to deny Blake Seits and Marco Cobian the ball,” Cole said. “Other guys can get it done. It’s good to see.”

Ramona led the Jaguars by 4 points after the first quarter but had a 21-13 scoring advantage for the second period.

“We were able to pull away in the second quarter,” Cole said. “We’re taking care of the ball really well. We feed the open guy.”

That willingness to pass to a teammate with a better scoring chance can be reflected in lower scoring for individual players but does not constitute a decline in that player’s performance.

“The amount of unselfish play we have is really standing out to me as a coach,” Cole said. “It’s allowing us to be a much better team.”

Cole had only 10 players Jan. 29 at Fallbrook as Pierce and Lloyd were both ill, but nine of those players scored in the Bulldogs’ 78-49 victory. Cobian hit shots for 26 points and Seits gave Ramona 23 points.

Gurrola had 8 points and made contributions in addition to his shooting.

“He was really good on defense and rebounding,” Cole said.

Knight also had 8 points against the Warriors. Harris scored 5 points. The game included a 25-13 Ramona scoring advantage in the third period.

Ramona shot 82 percent from the free throw line at Fallbrook.

“I’m really proud of that. That was huge,” Cole said.

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