Palma hoops

By John Devine
 Monterey >> The test Palma was expecting. Didn't happen.
 Oh, it wasn't that Monterey played that badly. It was that the Chieftains basketball team was that much better.
 There will be a sequel on February 17.
 Still, the message by Palma was loud and clear after coasting to a 72-55 win over the Toreadores, snapping their school record breaking 17-0 start.
 "We had something to prove,'' Palma guard Jamaree Bouyea said. "Monterey is a good team. But I think people forgot about us I almost felt like the underdog.''
 Last year Bouyea was the Gabilan Division's Most Valuable Player in helping take Palma to a spot in the State Division IV championships.
 "It's been a while since we've been tested,'' Palma sharpshooter Nikhil Manimaram said.
 That depends on your definition of test.
 The Chieftains, who came into the game having defeated five league opponents by an average of 38 points, held as much as a 28 point lead in the second quarter.
 "Our talent sometimes hides our mistakes,'' Monterey coach Greg Daniels said. "This is what occurs when you make those mistakes. You can't do that against a team like Palma.''
 The Toreadores, who could find themselves in the Central Coast Section Open Division playoffs this year along with Palma, were the last undefeated team in the tri-region.
 While Monterey had big wins over defending CCS Division IV champion Pacific Grove and a non-league win over Milpitas earlier this year, the Chieftains presented a different challenge.
 "We have a lot of work to do,'' Daniels said. "Lets see how we respond. Let's see if we can fix some of our weaknesses. Because they are correctable.''
 Having rattled off 34 straight Gabilan Division wins, the Chieftains (15-2 overall) played like a team looking to make a statement.
 While some called this the biggest regular season game for Monterey in 20 plus years, the Chieftains treated it like it was just another league game with its composure on the court.
 "Oh, it was an important game,'' said Bouyea, who finished with a game high 26 points. "It meant a little more to me.''
 And the point guard played like it. Bouyea, who lives in Seaside, played with fire from the opening tipoff, showing his unselfishness with the basket while pulling down a dozen rebounds.
 "That first quarter was all Nikhil,'' said Bouyea, referring to his teammate, who caught fire from the perimeter in the first quarter, scoring 15 of the Chieftains 30 points.
 Manimaram put on a shooting exhibition with five 3-point goals in the first quarter, lighting up the 100 plus year old Monterey gym.
 "It was crazy,'' Manimaram said. "There was so much emotion with the crowd. Jamaree told me I'm looking for you. It's just a feeling you get when you get hot.''
 Manimaram finished with seven 3-point goals, six in the first 12 minutes of the game as Palma went on a 12-0 run in the second quarter to open up a 28-point lead.
 "I told him 'I'm looking for you','' Bouyea said. "You have to feed the hot hand. Nikhil was hot.''
 "No argument here,'' Daniels said.
 Bouyea took over the game in the second half when he opened the third quarter with eight straight points, prompting one teammate on the bench to say 'it's too easy'.''
 "I think our start deflated them,'' Bouyea said. "But give Monterey credit. It fought back and got back in the game.''
 Whether it was complacency on the Chieftains part, or a Monterey squad with pride and determined not to be embarrassed at home, it found something to build off with a fourth quarter charge.
 The Toreadores turned to brothers Mohammed and Mohamid Adam for baskets in the paint to cut Palma's once instrumental lead to nine with 3:47 left in the game.
 "We just dug ourselves to deep of a hole to get out off,'' Daniels said.
 Manimaram, who had cooled in the second  half, had ice in his veins in the clutch when he drained his seventh 3-point goal to push the lead back to 12.
 Teammate Cameron Jones quietly put up 13 points, knocking down a pair of baskets while Bouyea went to the basket for two more to push the lead back to 17.
 "I'm sure it will be different when we see them again,'' Bouyea said. "But this was nice.''