The Valley Chronicle - Cougar boys charm the Diamondbacksng

Acacia’s boys basketball team charmed the Diamond Valley Diamondbacks, 36-26

[caption id="attachment_1460" align="alignright" width="300"] Photo by Corey Evan / The Valley Chronicle
The Cougars and D-back boys storm the court as the Acacia girls cheer them on.[/caption] ■ Corey Evan / Sports Reporter It’s never too early to dream about playing for the Los Angeles Clippers… or the Lakers, if you have to be picky. The boys at Acacia Middle School in Hemet hold that dream, and let that dream play out last Thursday against the visiting Diamondbacks from Diamond Valley Middle. It was a standing room only crowd on both sides of the Cougar Gym as this cross-town rivalry heated up. From the get-go, it was clear that both of these teams play as hard as their NBA counterparts, but Acacia’s boys played even harder; the Cougars racked up a quick 13 points in the first quarter before the Diamondbacks got their first two points. After one quarter, the Cougars led 15-2. The maroon-clad snakes started to bust a move in the second quarter, picking up five points before the blue-and-gold cats got back into their groove and added 11 points to their tally. The D-backs now had a 26-7 deficit to worry about. The atmosphere in the Cougar Gym was electrified as the third quarter started. But even with a 19-point spread the Diamondbacks didn’t cave; they equaled the Cougars’ performance for the quarter, as each team gained seven points. But the snakes still had a 19-point gap to deal with in the final quarter, and they did a decent job of trying to close it. They added 12 points to their tally by game’s end, while Acacia added just three. But it was too little, too late as the Cougars took this game 36-26. Despite being happy about the win, Coach Tony Smith observed that this was typical game play at this level. “A lot of mistakes made on both sides, a lot of energy,” said Smith. “You could tell the kids still have a lot to learn. I think the energy was high on both teams.” As the Valley League season rolls forward toward championships, one thing was for certain; the blue and the gold didn’t run today. The Cougar boys have the Dartmouth Knights coming over to play this afternoon at 3:45, not just for basketball but also for soccer! It’s a good chance for the grownups to learn how the kids do it.