Honkers' winning tradition continues

In his four years as a player in Yuba City High's boys basketball program, Gagan Purewal has only known victory.

During his freshman season in 2008-09, he watched his older cousin Mundeep Purewal, standout Tyler Fry and the Brad McIntire-led Honkers go 10-0 in the Tri-County Conference.

The following year, coach Kurt Grahl and the electrifying, 6-foot-7 Zach Nelson led Y.C. to a 12-0 mark in the TCC.

Last season, more of the same. A 10-0 conference record and a fourth consecutive TCC banner.

The Honkers haven't tasted defeat in the TCC since Feb. 8, 2008 when Gagan Purewal was an eighth grader.

Purewal and his senior counterparts aren't looking to break tradition.

The Honkers easily picked up their 37th consecutive TCC win with Thursday night's 81-37 rout of Pioneer at Honker Gym.

Purewal said the winning streak has become a tradition handed down by the senior class at the end of each season.

"We haven't lost a varsity league game since I've been here and I don't want to start now," Purewal said. "We don't want to be that one team to mess it up."

Purewal and fellow senior Nick Brown scored 12 points a piece in a game where every active player on the roster scored. Three Honkers were out with injuries, including key contributors Taylor Elkins and James Van Dusen.

The Honkers' defense smothered the Patriots (1-19, 0-3), who committed 15 turnovers in the first half. Yuba City (11-8, 3-0) made 14 steals as a team.

Senior Matt Hayes picked up his 18th straight double-double with a game-high 20 points and 13 rebounds. Junior Louis Mowers scored 10 points off the bench.

The continued maturation of Purewal at point guard will be imperative for the Honkers as TCC play continues.

With teams locking up on Hayes, Purewal said he and his teammates will have to provide a legitimate scoring threat to take some of the heat off of their MVP.

"He always finds the open man, so we just have to hit our open shots," Purewal said. "That will open up shots for him, too."

As successful as the team has been in the TCC, the Honkers have faced some adversity this year as well. Yuba City came into conference play riding a five-game losing streak.

Yuba City coach Brian Davis said that five-game stretch, which included matchups against section powers Oak Ridge and St. Mary's, was a humbling experience for his team.

"We weren't doing some of things we normally do," Davis said. "It helped prepare us for league and games like this."

The Honkers travel to Woodland on Tuesday to face the Wolves before next Friday's much-anticipated tilt at River Valley.

The Falcons are still searching for their first ever win over the Honkers after falling to Y.C. in last month's Mel Good Holiday Classic championship game.

Davis said every team in the conference is looking for that opportunity to knock his team off the pedestal.

None more so than their biggest rival across town.

"Any bad night, they're ready to tip us off," Davis said. "That's why we have to make sure we're on point every night."