East Side, Auburn Boys Roll To First-Round Win In Cancer Tourney

TONY STINNETT, Courier Co-Editor
Thursday, December 8, 2011 11:54 am

Graden Strang poured in 14 points and the tandem of Jacob Gonzalez and Austin Brock combined for 11 as No. 5 seed East Side turned back Woodbury Grammar 25-13 in the first round of the 2011 Cancer Tournament at Woodbury Grammar School Monday (Dec. 5).

Briar Jakes led the way with 14 points as No. 3 Auburn rolled to a 47-16 win against No. 6 Short Mountain in the other boys first-round game.

Tournament action continues today (Dec. 8) with No. 1 Woodland facing East Side at 5:30 p.m., followed by No. 2 West Side against No. 3 Auburn at 8 p.m.

East Side flexed its muscle in the second half to pull away from the host Cubs. The Tigers jumped out to a commanding 19-12 halftime lead and then shut the Cubs out in the third quarter to extend the advantage to 25-12.

Strang scored all 14 of his points in the first three quarters to help distance the Tigers. The eighth-grader also pulled eight rebounds. Gonzalez finished with six points and three rebounds, and Brock added five points.

Josh Walkup led Woodbury with four points. Four other players scored two each.

AUBURN 47
SHORT MOUNTAIN 16
Briar Jakes scored 14 points on 6-of-8 shooting from the field, including knocking down both of his 3-point attempts, and he also collected six steals to lead Auburn to a first-round tournament win.

It was not as though Jakes was a one-man wrecking crew. Austin Duggin and Dalton Gaither each scored six, followed by Tyler King, Tommy Melton, Johnny Kennedy, Houston Dorris and Hunter Vickers with four points each.

Michael Morris led Short Mountain with nine points.

Auburn wasted no time establishing itself as the aggressor. The Knights jumped out to a 17-2 lead by the end of the first quarter and stretched that to 23-7 at the half. Auburn was 8-of-11 from the field in the first quarter.