After being on the road for the first three games of the season, California wanted to make a statement in its first game in front of home fans.
The Pintos did that Tuesday against Green Ridge.
California ran out to a 10-point first quarter lead and never looked back in a 53-26 win over the Tigers. With the victory, the Pintos improved to 2-2 on the young campaign.
"The home opener is always big for us," California coach Matt Moulder said. "It sets the tone for the whole season and gets the town and the kids excited about the team. Hopefully it will lead to big crowds and an exciting atmosphere every time we play at home."
California forged its advantage from distance against Green Ridge. The Pintos rained home four 3-pointers in the first quarter on their way to sinking seven total 3's in the game.
Senior Jimmie Upton was the top scorer for California with 12 points. Upton did all of his damage from long range as he netted four 3's, including a buzzer beater at the end of the third that proved to be a dagger.
"We really stressed working inside-out," Moulder said. "When you get your post people involved, the shots tend to fall better from the perimeter and I thought we did a better job of that tonight."
After Upton, the Pintos received a balanced cavalcade of offensive contributors as five players tallied seven points. Isaac Ash, Luke Freeman, Wyatt Percival, Jacob Wolken and Jordan Geiser all notched seven apiece against the Tigers.
"We do have some balance and versatility," Moulder said. "We have some flexibility and we can kind of play the hot hand. Early in the season, you're feeling yourself out and find out what your strengths. We're still in the feeling-out process, but overall, I think we have potential to be a nice ball club and be competitive."
The Pintos suffocated Green Ridge on the defensive end as the Tigers made just seven total field goals. Ryan Dove led Green Ridge with 11 points while Eric Ray added seven.
"For the most part, we did a nice job (defensively)," Moulder said. "We really wanted to be solid. We didn't want to gamble and get ourselves out of position and we didn't want to foul because early in the season we've been fouling too much. We have to do a better job of playing solid, tough defense without fouling, but I think we're getting better."