With the holiday season approaching, California boys basketball coach Blair Scanlon made one request to his players heading into last week's Linn Invitational.
"Coach said if we could give him one Christmas present, it would be going undefeated into Christmas break," Pintos senior guard Jaden Barr explained.
The Pintos delivered on that wish, doing their best Santa Claus impression.
Entering the Linn Invitational with a 3-0 record, the Pintos recorded victories over Cuba (71-40), rival Blair Oaks (52-50) and unbeaten Fatima (54-37) to win Friday night's tournament final. California kept its perfect record intact with a 61-44 victory over Hermann in Saturday's National Guard Shootout in Jefferson City.
The Pintos (7-0) opened the season with respectable victories over Warrensburg, Dixon and Russellville, but getting tougher wins over Blair Oaks, Fatima and Hermann sent a loud message to California doubters.
"We're a legit team," senior guard Eli Freeman said. "We're showing people that we mean business."
Even Scanlon, who downplayed his team's 3-0 start against mediocre competition, was impressed with the Fatima win. The Comets entered Friday's tournament final unbeaten at 7-0.
"I want to keep it simple with our guys. I expect us to win and play good," Scanlon said. "Anytime you win a tournament, it's a great time. It was a good, hard-fought win. Hats off to our guys. We did a great job."
Although the Pintos delivered their coach his early Christmas present, Scanlon doesn't plan to lower his expectations when California returns to the court Jan. 9 at Southern Boone. The California Tournament, which includes boys and girls teams, is scheduled to begin Jan. 12.
"We have to move on," Scanlon said after accepting the championship trophy at Linn. "There's no basking in the glory."
While there wasn't much drama in the wins over Cuba and Fatima, the Blair Oaks game on Wednesday, Dec. 17, was decided with a final shot. With the score tied at 50-50 with time winding down, Barr made the winning layup with 1.8 seconds left.
It was California's second thrilling victory over Blair Oaks this school year. The Pintos' football team kicked a game-winning field goal late in the fourth quarter against the Falcons to win the Class 3 District 6 title.
"Anytime you beat Blair Oaks, it feels good," said Barr, also the football team's starting quarterback.
Barr led California in the basketball game with 16 points. Junior guard Landon Mouse finished with 12 points, senior forward Drew Norton added 11 points and senior forward Damon Shaw scored 10.
In the final against Fatima, the Comets began the third quarter with consecutive 3-pointers to take a 20-15 lead. California responded with a 16-0 run over the next four minutes to open a commanding 31-20 advantage. Freeman and Mouse each hit 3-pointers during the rally.
"We weren't focused coming out of halftime, but coach Scanlon got us reeled back into the game," Freeman said. "He yelled at us, got in our heads and got us focused."
Fatima cut the deficit to 36-29 early in the fourth quarter, but once again, the Pintos made a run to pull away. California responded with layups from Barr, Shaw and Mouse to push the lead back to 42-29. Freeman and Mouse each finished with 13 points and Barr scored 10.
Barr, who also had 15 points against Cuba, was named