Juzang, Bears topple Eagles

By Jeremy Tepper

MVI Sports

When Justin Walther first got a look at Jackson Juzang, he told his assistant coaches that he thought he had a chance to be “something special.” 

Something special, certainly, would be one way to describe Juzang’s performance on Tuesday. 

The Winchester Thurston (1-1, 1-1) star guard sliced and diced Serra Catholic’s (0-1, 0-1) defense on the way to 42 points in an 86-73 Section 3-2A win. 

Using his immense speed and athleticism, Juzang had no problem getting a steady diet of easy layups and pull up jumpers.

“When we can get him out in space, he’s pretty much unstoppable,” Walther said. “We were able to get the ball through to him and once he beat the first line of defense it was pretty much a bounce pass for a layup or him getting a layup or hitting a little pull up.”

Walther, who spent four seasons as Serra Catholic’s coach before taking over at Winchester Thurston this season, said that coaching against his former players was a bit weird, but he was glad to see them again. Meanwhile, AJ Corso coached his first game for the Eagles. What he found out, mostly, is that his team has a lot of rust to shake off.

“A lot of guys looked rusty. That’s what I’m gonna talk to them about, that we need to get back in the gym and work hard,” Corso said. “The amount of rust is unbelievable. We’re probably two and a half months behind.”

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