MILPITAS — The Milpitas basketball team was poised and primed for Wednesday’s showdown with Palo Alto.
“We really wanted it,” senior forward Jacob Wrencher said. “We were motivated to come out and get that first knockout punch.”
Wrencher, the son of Milpitas coach Champ Wrencher, certainly did his part. He scored the first five baskets for Milpitas — on two jumpers, two offensive-rebound putbacks and a layup off a turnover — as the Trojans jumped out to a 10-2 lead and were never threatened in a 65-43 victory.
Milpitas (18-3, 8-1) moved into first place in the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League’s De Anza Division, a half game ahead of Palo Alto (17-3, 7-1) with the win. And it avenged a 44-37 loss at Palo Alto earlier in the season.
“We were ready to play at home, ready to see these guys at home, and ready to play offense with some confidence,” coach Wrencher said. ‘I think we can take this anywhere now.”
Milpitas led 20-9 at the end of the first quarter.
“For us to give up 20 points in a quarter to them, that gave them life and that gave them belief,” Palo Alto coach Jeff LaMere said. “Once you give a team that belief, it’s hard to rein it back in.”
Milpitas made 9 of 15 shots in that first quarter and continued to execute at a high level throughout, shooting 55% for the game (29 of 53). Shooting guard Dylan Nguyen got out on the fastbreak for several buckets and scored a team-high 18 points. Wrencher finished with 17. Pranav Krishnan, a 6-5 sophomore, came off the bench and provided a big boost with six field goals for 12 points.
And even when the Trojans misfired on a shot it wasn’t all bad. They did a great deal of damage on the offensive boards with six offensive-rebound hoops — three by Wrencher, two by Isaac Sisay and one by Lamont Davis.
“Champ does a great job with that team, they play their butts off,” LaMere said. “They’re a tough team. They were hungry for this.”
Jorell Clark, averaging 25 points per game, led Palo Alto with 18, but no other player on the team had more than 5.
“Jorell’s had an incredible season. I think he’s the best player in our league and one of the best in the section,” LaMere said. “He was a little off tonight, but that’s going to happen. He had 18 but on a lot of volume. He’s had a lot of efficient games.”
For Champ Wrencher, in his 18th year as the head coach at Milpitas, it’s been a gratifying experience to have a team, with all five starters returning from last season, where all the pieces have fit together in an 18-3 start.
“Funny thing is we’ve been doing the same things all these years,” he said. “If you get talent these things work. Otherwise, I’m a social science teacher and I might as well coach since I’m on campus. I had fun all those years but always felt if we could get some talent we could make some things happen.”
