Cougars can’t solve Gonzalez, Pioneers
NORTHEAST GLENDALE — Glendale Adventist Academy first-year boys’ basketball Coach Sheldon Franklin hadn’t heard of Patrick Gonzalez until Thursday night.
After watching Gonzalez make an assortment of shots from around the floor, Franklin seemed impressed with the Providence High shooting wiz who came into Thursday’s contest averaging 36.6 points per game.
“He’s deadly from the outside,” Sheldon said of Gonzalez, who finished with 43 points to spark visiting Providence to an 85-54 Liberty League road win against Glendale Adventist. “After the first quarter, you could see the way he shoots the ball.
“His mechanics were proper and when you make NBA three-point shots, it’s just very hard to defend.”
Gonzalez made eight three-pointers to help the Pioneers improve to 9-7, 2-2 in league. Glendale Adventist dropped to 2-10, 0-3.
The Cougars, who moved to the Liberty League from the Westside League this season, trailed, 18-13, after the first quarter. Glendale Adventist, which fields only seven players, seemed to grow fatigued in the second quarter.
Gonzalez had 31 first-half points to help Providence build a 47-22 halftime lead. The mobile Pioneers outscored the Cougars, 31-9, in the second quarter.
“We came out and gave it our all until the end,” said Franklin, who received 15 points and 10 rebounds from Jonathan Siguenza and 11 points from Luke Vazquez. “It just boils down to being fatigued.”
The Cougars received 10 points and three steals from Tyler Sylva and eight points, seven rebounds and five assists from Gus Abdul Kharim.
Gonzalez had some offensive support, too. Providence got 19 points and three steals from Tyler Kidd, a Glendale resident.
Gonzalez made a three-pointer to give the Pioneers a 10-5 lead with 4:18 remaining in the first quarter. A three-pointer from Sylva cut Providence’s lead to 12-10 with 2:27 left in the opening quarter.
Gonzalez had 12 third-quarter points before sitting out the entire fourth quarter.
“He’s a very good shooter,” Providence Coach Carey Many said. “It’s a snowball effect in that once he gets that first shot in he then gets going.
“We can score a lot of points, but we give up a lot of points. The games have been about 15 points either side.”
