Georgia Raczniak Tournament underway in Colusa

Six teams took the court this week in the Georgia Raczniak Basketball Tournament in Colusa to see which teams will play for the tournament title Saturday.

The tournament, which features boys basketball teams from Colusa, Corning, Maxwell, Sutter, Wheatland and Willows high school, began on Wednesday with Corning beating Willows, 48-36, and Colusa defeating Maxwell, 51-42.

The Honkers responded with a 67-48 win against Wheatland on the second day of the tournament and Sutter shook off a tenacious Panthers team 54-47 on Thursday.

Results from Friday's games were not available at press time but the tournament concludes today with the fifth-place game taking place at 2 p.m. The third-place game is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. and the championship at 5 p.m. at Colusa High.

Willows 67, Wheatland 48

The Pirates led for most of the first quarter but after that it was all Honkers. Willows outscored Wheatland 26-13 in the second quarter and went on to win 67-48 on Thursday.

Willows began to utilize its speed in transition to pull away in the second quarter and scored the final eight points of the first half for a 40-27 lead at the break.

"We're trying to get more of that transition into our game but we haven't been doing that too well and we had it going tonight," Willows coach Darrell Schonauer said.

Ryan Welsh led the Honkers with 16 points and Ryan Amaru scored 15 to lead the offensive onslaught. Alex Alves added 12 points while Kasey Foley and Bryce Jones both scored nine.

The Honkers (6-4) are starting to play better after a slow start to the season, in part because several key players were members of the football team which made a championship run.

"It's been tough so far trying to get back in basketball shape and we're in football shape which is a lot different," Welsh said. "We're trying to feel our way back and we're getting there but hopefully during Christmas break we can get some good practices in and get our chemistry back and be ready for the first of the year."

Shaye Milner scored a game-high 17 points in a losing effort for Wheatland.

Sutter 54, Maxwell 47

Maxwell's strong start fizzled out against the Huskies defensive pressure on Thursday.

The Panthers scored the first 10 points of the game and led 27-17 at halftime. Sutter pulled within four points entering the final quarter and overtook the Panthers for the 54-47 victory.

George Barajas was the key component in the Panthers' offense in the first half, pulling down rebounds and finding teammates in transition for easy buckets.

Sutter began to utilize its size advantage in the second half and controlled the boards, which slowed the Panthers transition game, Maxwell coach Forrest Bateman said.

"We've got to rebound first before we can do that," the coach said.

Barajas finished the game with 11 points and 11 rebounds. Zach Troughton led Maxwell with 13 points while Riley deWit and Steven Powell both scored nine.

"We had our chances and I think we should have won," Bateman said

The loss dropped Maxwell's record to 3-6.

Wednesday

Colusa 51, Maxwell 42

The RedHawks got off to a strong start in their home tournament on Wednesday with a 51-42 win against Maxwell.

Colusa led 46-28 heading into the fourth quarter before the Panthers found some offense.

Jordan Hillis made three 3-pointers and scored 15 points for Colusa. Kevin Buenrostro scored 10 points while Cyrus Yerxa and Bre'on Jones both scored eight.

Yerxa pulled down 11 rebounds and Jones made four assists and three steals.

Riley deWit led Maxwell with 17 points and six rebounds. Zach Troughton scored eight points and blocked a shot. George Barajas scored seven points and had two steals.

The RedHawks (6-2) didn't have a game on Thursday but resumed play on Friday against Sutter.

Corning 48, Willows 36

Statistics for this game were not available at press time.

CONTACT Kirk Barron at 458-2121 or kbarron@tcnpress.com.