Comets club Tigers 56-48 in home win

A strong start in the second half led to a good finish for the men’s basketball team, as it defeated Reedley 56-48 Saturday at home.

After trailing for most of the half, the Comets (2-3 overall) barely got the lead over the Tigers (1-4 overall) at halftime, and their early surge in the second half was enough to get them through to the end for the victory.

“It’s a good win for us after the losses at (Diablo Valley College),” coach Miguel Johnson said. “We’ve got a young group of guys starting to understand what to do (on the court).”

The Comets play their next game against Chabot College (5-1 overall) at the San Jose City College Tournament at San Jose Thursday.

Saturday’s game began with both teams’ defensive pressure preventing each team from getting close to the basket. Still, the Tigers were able to pull ahead early.

Contra Costa College had problems containing Reedley forward Ramon Polo, who had 16 points in the game.

“It was a tough game (against a) good opponent,” Comet guard Michael Brown said. “(But) we came here, played hard and played together.”

The Comets took the lead within the last two minutes of the first half following a backcourt violation by Tiger guard Mohamed Fara.

On the following play, Comet guard DeShaun LeGree sank a 3-pointer to put the Comets ahead, 26-23. Reedley would score once more in the half to end it with a 26-25 Comet lead.

LeGree was the Comets’ leading scorer on the night and helped the team get off to a good start in the second half by scoring eight points, with two 3-pointers, to put the Comets up by nine four minutes into the half.

“I came out aggressive to help get my team going,” LeGree said.

He racked up 22 points in the victory, going 4-for-8 from 3-point range.

Brown also made significant contributions, scoring nine of the Comets’ first 17 points of the second half, and ended the night with a total of 15 points.

He said the talk Johnson gave the team at halftime pointed out the flaws and helped it improve play in the second half.

“We executed, played hard and earned the ‘W’,” Brown said.

Midway through the second half, the Tigers went on a scoring run and came within three points of CCC.

The Comets were able to hold off the Tigers by forcing them to commit several turnovers in the final minutes, extending CCC’s lead to the final score of 56-48.

LeGree said the team had more energy in the game and played more together than in previous matches.

“I hope we come out with the same energy (in our next game) to keep us going,” he said.

The victory is the first at home this season, following a win over West Valley College and two straight losses for the Comets at the Chevron Invitational at Diablo Valley College in Pleasant Hill, Nov. 27-29.

“We didn’t execute as well as we wanted to in the first half,” Johnson said. “We did better in the second half. When it got close, we got stops when we needed them.”

Contact Dariush Azmoudeh at dazmoudeh.advocate@gmail.com

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