The Raymond Seagulls might be better off wearing track cleats than basketball shoes.
Playing with an unmatched speed and tempo, the Seagulls were able to run away from the visiting Ocosta Wildcats 87-53 in a 2B Pacific League game on Wednesday.
The Seagulls (2-0 overall, 1-0 league) had five players score at least eight points and used a big first-half run to seize a lead it would never relinquish.
Early on it was Ocosta (2-1, 0-1) that took the lead and set the pace of play. The Wildcats crashed the offensive glass, leading to second and third-chance points to jump out to an 8-3 lead halfway through the first quarter.
But Raymond’s full-court press — which Ocosta had handled well early in the game — had begun to prove fruitful.
After the Wildcats took an 11-7 lead on a Noah Prigmore 3-pointer, Raymond’s press created five straight steals and the Seagulls capitalized. Raymond senior guard Tre’ Seydel hit a 3-pointer to give the Seagulls the lead at 12-11 and later hit a pull-up jumper in the key for an 18-11 lead, culminating an 11-0 Raymond run with just over a minute left in the period.
In the second quarter, Ocosta continued to pound the boards to get extra opportunities and pulled to within four points at 29-25 on a pair of Kevin Agramon free throws with 4:09 left in the half.
But Raymond’s defense held the Wildcats scoreless for the remainder of the quarter and the Seagulls offense was able to extend the lead.
Seydel scored on a dribble-drive, pull-up jumper followed by a three from junior guard Skyler Hutson, a steal and layup from senior guard Deleak Hubbard, and a turnaround jumper from the free-throw line by Seydel to stake Raymond to a 38-25 lead at the break.
“I thought in the first half, (Ocosta) did a pretty good job of controlling the pace and it was all based on rebounding,” Raymond head coach Derek Rask said. “They controlled the boards in the first half … and if we don’t rebound, we don’t play our style of basketball that we want to play. We addressed that at halftime. … We wanted to clean that up in the second half. We did and that opened up the game for us.”
RYAN SPARKS | THE DAILY WORLD Ocosta’s Xander Prigmore (22) and Raymond Adrian Quintana (14) compete for a rebound during the Seagulls 87-53 victory on Wednesday at Raymond High School.
While it didn’t utilize its full-court press in the second half, Raymond did a much better job securing rebounds and challenging Ocosta shots.
The Seagulls held its double-digit lead throughout the third quarter and went up by 20 when Hutson hit another three to make it a 59-39 game in the final minute.
Raymond closed the game on an 11-3 run to pick up the 87-53 victory.
“In the first quarter, our energy was down. (Ocosta) outplayed us with their energy level,” said Seydel, who led all scorers with 29 points to go along with six assists. “I feel like we were in our own head, so we just needed to get back to our own style of basketball and we would be successful.”
RYAN SPARKS | THE DAILY WORLD Raymond senior Tre’ Seydel (12) coasts to the basket for two of his game-high 29 points during the Seagulls 87-53 victory on Wednesday in Raymond.
Ocosta head coach Jason Quinby said the speed at which Raymond played caused problems for his team, which entered this season with just three varsity games under its belt and not one senior on the roster.
“We were down 13 at halftime and I felt if we made some shots inside that we would normally make, it’s a pretty darn close game. I think the speed kind of sped our guys up a little bit,” he said. “Every team likes to play at a certain pace and I thought we played a little bit faster than what our pace is. That’s a credit to Raymond for speeding us up and getting us out of our comfort zone. They were definitely playing at their speed and we were a little too fast for our comfort zone.”
In addition to Seydel, Hutson and junior guard/forward Morgan Anderson scored in double digits.
Hutson hit four 3-pointers on the night for 12 points while Anderson had a consistent 17, scoring on a variety of mid-range jump shots and off of offensive rebounds.
Hubbard scored nine points and had a game-high seven steals for a Raymond defense that totalled 19 steals in the ballgame.
Senior Adrian Quintana scored eight points and led Raymond with eight assists.
The Seagulls offense totalled 18 assists and hit nine threes in the contest.
Ocosta was led by junior post Mark Lewis, who had a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds as he posed a physical presence in the paint for the Wildcats.
RYAN SPARKS | THE DAILY WORLD Ocosta’s Mark Lewis passes while being defended by Raymond’s Talan Yearout (34), Tre’ Seydel and Morgan Anderson (30) during the Seagulls 87-53 victory on Wednesday at Raymond High School.
Freshman guard Alexis Agramon had 12 points while junior Xander Prigmore scored 11 points, including three 3-pointers for Ocosta.
Seydel, an all-state guard who typical does the bulk of Raymond’s scoring, said the game is much more fun when his teammates are involved.
“It’s so fun. We’re all friends. … We’re really a family for once. It’s the best team I’ve ever been on and we all love each other as a team,” he said. “I think it’s all just this chemistry that is putting us a level above anything we’ve seen in Raymond basketball.”
For Quinby, the loss is a good learning moment for his young team.
“I told my guys, ‘That is what intensity looks like,’” he said. “We either step up and match it or it’s going to be a long season.”
Ocosta 14 11 14 14 — 53
Raymond 20 18 23 26 — 87
Scoring
Raymond (87) — Seydel 29, Anderson 17, Hutson 12, Hubbard 9, Quintana 8, Talan Yearout 6, Jaxson Freeman 4, Daniel Medeiros 2
Ocosta (53) — M. Lewis 13, Agramon 12, X. Prigmore 11, Josh Figueroa 5, Noah Prigmore 5, Tarren Lewis 4, Garrison Barnum 3
