Scrimmage allows first look at many newcomers

By EDDIE HUGHES

On a night that featured all the new faces of Fresno State basketball, a familiar face stole the show—if only for a moment.

Former Bulldogs point guard Shantay Legans, who’s now helping out with the men’s coaching staff, won fast food coupons for everyone in attendance by making a layup, free throw, 3-pointer and half-court shot within 35 seconds.

But then the focus turned back to the 2004-05 men’s and women’s squads, which each scrimmaged for 15 non-stop minutes Wednesday night at the Save Mart Center.

The women’s team went first, displaying a propensity for points and determined defense in the short time span.

“That’s all we ever focus on,” coach Stacy Johnson-Klein said. “Defense and rebounding.”

The red team—featuring starters Mirenda Swearengin, Amy Parrish, Toni Atherley, Aritta Lane and Chantella Perera—outscored the white squad 21-10.

The white-team starters were Tierre Wilson, Faith Probst, Jasmine Plummer, Brittani Green and Veronica Mack.

Three of the five starters on the winning red team are newcomers in Swearengin, Parrish and Atherley.

Swearengin, a junior college transfer point guard, ran the Bulldogs’ offense with speed and drew oohs and ahhs from the crowd with her no-look passing.

“She’s quicker than most and she can just flat score,” Johnson-Klein said.

Parrish, another transfer, led all scorers with nine points. The 6-foot forward even stepped out to hit a 3 late in the scrimmage before blocking the final shot of the night.

Lane, a senior who led the team with 12.5 points per game last season, had eight in the scrimmage.

The Bulldogs (13-16, 7-11 Western Athletic Conference last season) open exhibition play Wednesday against Strakonice BBC.

Senior Cophie Moore, who started 23 games last season, played with a brace on her right leg. Johnson-Klein said both Moore and Wilson have shin splints.

The men’s team had a couple injuries of its own. Senior center Mustafa Al-Sayyad sat out the scrimmage with a knee injury, and freshman forward Hector Hernandez sat out with a hamstring injury.

Coach Ray Lopes said Al-Sayyad is week-to-week and Hernandez is day-to-day. Lopes said both are questionable for Monday’s exhibition opener against Fresno Pacific, but he’s not concerned about rushing them along.

With Al-Sayyad sidelined, the Bulldogs’ men had just two returning players on the court—seniors Jack Marlow and Dreike Bouldin. Bouldin must sit out the first six games of the season for academic reasons.

Fans got a look at 11 newcomers, as the Bulldogs come off a 14-15, 10-8 season.

Marlow and freshmen Chris Berry and Donovan Morris finished with a game-high six points each. All three started for the red team—along with Dwight O’Neil and Dominique White—in a 22-9 win.

The white-team starters were Bouldin, Jose Sanchez, Ja’Vance Coleman, Carl Ross and Rutgers transfer Harry Good, a former Fresno City College forward. Ross led the white team with five points.

Even with the big margin of loss, the white team provided the biggest highlight of the night when Ross lofted a transition backboard pass to Coleman for a dunk. Ross slammed through a reverse dunk of his own later in the game.

The Bulldogs looked to Marlow in the low post throughout the game, including one possession on which the 6-foot-9, 330-pound center pulled down two of his own offensive rebounds before making a basket to put his team up 9-2.

“In the half-court, me and Moose are going to be powerhouses,” Marlow said of himself and Al-Sayyad’s inside presence.

Many of the players looked excited to get on the court in front of a crowd—though it was sparse—for the first time this season. Lopes said the team had practiced at the Save Mart Center nine times out of 20 practices.

“Now they got to play a game in here, so they’re excited,” Lopes said. “They’ll be even more excited once we get people in the seats.”

Morris, a 6-4 freshman forward from Winchendon Prep in Massachusetts, had a smile on his face from the time he ran out of the tunnel entrance and onto the court.

“I’m just so happy to get it started,” Morris said. “I feel good, and it wasn’t even full.”

Morris hasn’t yet seen a game in person at the Bulldogs’ home court, let alone played in one. He said the only feel he got for the arena while he was being recruited was on video tape.

3-point contest

The only glimpse the fans got of Hernandez, a 6-9 freshman forward originally from Chihuahua, Mexico, was in the 3-point contest.

But it was quite a glimpse, as Hernandez won the contest after hitting eight 3s in the first round and nine in the final round. Sanchez and Morris each had seven.

Freshman Kendra Walker-Roche led the women with seven in the first round and six in the finals. Perera had five and Parrish had three.

Dunk contest

The men’s squad had a little fun rattling the rims.

The five contestants had a Washington Union High flavor with alums Coleman, Ross and O’Neil. Ross got the louder crowd response, giving him the title over O’Neil in the finals.

His reverse jam after throwing the ball to himself off the glass highlighted his repertoire of dunks.

But the biggest cheers of the night came after a bit of a comedy routine from Berry. The 6-6 freshman from Compton tossed the ball in the air and removed his shirt, but misjudged the throw and wasn’t able to make a dunk out of it.

It didn’t matter to his teammates or the fans, who were plenty entertained anyway.