Pintos defeat Falcons

Owen Luebbering of Blair Oaks and Landon Mouse of California battle for a loose ball during Tuesday's game at California.
Owen Luebbering of Blair Oaks and Landon Mouse of California battle for a loose ball during Tuesday's game at California.

The 3-pointers were flying in Tuesday's game between California and Blair Oaks, with the teams combining to shoot 16-of-40 from deep.

Leading the way was Landon Mouse of California, who made 6-of-12 from beyond the arc on his way to a game-high 27 points to lead the Pintos to an 80-64 win against the Falcons.

Mouse was competing against the Blair Oaks trio of Jordan Hair, Tim Fick and C.J. Closser to see who could knock down the most 3s.

Well, Mouse was able to match what those three made combined.

California coach Matt Moulder said Mouse and others were battling an illness Tuesday.

"Such a gutsy performance," he said. "(Mouse is) really, really sick and we've got the flu bug going around our team. ... All the kids put forth a tremendous, gutsy effort tonight."

Closser shot 2-of-4 from deep, with both of his makes coming from the right wing in the first two minutes of the game. The second got Blair Oaks within 7-6 at the 5:58 mark of the first quarter.

A Jacob Wolken steal and a 3 from Mouse got the game started. Blair Oaks went empty on its second possession and Freeman got a layup at the 7:00 mark. The Falcons then called an early timeout and Closser made his first 3 shortly after.

Hair was able to use the long-range shot to keep the game close after a 10-0 California run closed out the first quarter.

After a Jaylin Freeman layup put the Pintos up 23-15 early in the second quarter, Hair drained a 3 from the right corner and later knocked one down from the left corner to cut California's lead to 27-21 with 5:45 remaining in the first half. Hair shot 3-of-11 from 3-point range.

Turnovers hurt the Falcons and let the Pintos take a 38-24 lead late in the first half. Blair Oaks turned the ball over 14 times compared to only six for California.

Jason Rackers was able to turn a rare California turnover into two points in the final seconds of the first half to cut the Pintos' lead to 38-26.

Blair Oaks got within 41-37 at the 3:56 mark of the third quarter, but Mouse answered with another 3.

Rackers then scored four straight points for the Falcons, all off offensive rebounds, to cut California's lead to 44-41 with 3:04 remaining in the third quarter.

Rackers had a double-double with 14 points and a game-high 12 rebounds.

But California got a layup and a 3 from Josh Woodruff, and a three-point play from Freeman to put the Pintos up 52-43.

"Our kids really responded and kept competing," Moulder said. "We stress to stay in the moment that you're in, don't think about the last play or the next play."

The Falcons were able to make a run again after trailing 59-50 heading into the fourth quarter.

A pair of Fick free throws got the Falcons within four with 5:38 remaining, but that was as close as they could get. California outscored Blair Oaks 18-6 the rest of the game.

Freeman's fifth steal of the game set up Ethan Hodges for a pair of free throws with 18 seconds remaining to end the game's scoring.

Freeman had 21 points on 7-of-11 shooting and four rebounds. Wyatt Bestgen added 10 points. Wolken led the Pintos with seven rebounds to go along with eight points.

The Pintos used a zone defense for much of the game, which worked out when the Falcons had shooting droughts and the Pintos were able to grab the rebounds.

"We don't match up well with Blair Oaks at all," Moulder said. "They've got great size and some great athleticism, so we had to play some zone tonight, but I thought for the most part we did a nice job with the zone."

For the Falcons, Luebbering scored a team-high 17 points and had four rebounds. Fick and Closser each scored 10.

The Pintos have won three straight games. The Falcons had won five of seven and two straight before Tuesday's loss.

California (15-7) and Blair Oaks (16-8) will close out the regular season Friday, as the Pintos host Tipton while the Falcons host School of the Osage.

Blair Oaks won the JV game 53-45. Braydan Pritchett led the Falcons with 17 points.

California won the freshman game 66-62. Trent Martin scored 28 for Blair Oaks.