Photo by Aaron Crutchfield - Atascadero’s Alex Wolf goes toward the basket buring the Greyhounds’ 68-30 win over Pioneer Valley on Friday.

t’s hard to imagine a first half that could go any better for one team than the first half went for the Atascadero High School boys varsity basketball team against Pioneer Valley on Friday.

For the half, the Greyhounds made 76 percent of their shots in building a 44-22 lead. Then, after outscoring the Panthers 20-2 in the third quarter, the Hounds had such a large lead that CIF rules mandated a running clock in the fourth quarter. The final score was 68-30.

“We were in the lanes, we defended well, we kept the ball from their big guy, we handled their sets, we handled the dribble weave, we passed the ball well, we saw the switches and got behind it, we hit our shots,” said Atascadero coach Jerry Tamelier. “It really was a fine first half. Then as we got into the second half, everybody still played hard and defended well. They looked for each other and moved.”

The last time the Hounds were in any sort of battle was with 6:25 left in the first quarter when the Panthers had a 5-4 lead. But Thane Atkinson hit a 3-point shot with 6:11 left in the quarter and the Hounds never trailed again, as that shot sparked a 17-4 run, capped by a Sam Johnson three to put the Hounds up 22-9 with 1:45 left in the quarter.



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