California comes up short against St. Elizabeth

<p>Democrat photo/ Kevin Labotka</p><p>Hayden Green drives to the hoop in California’s 75-60 loss to St. Elizabeth Jan. 10 in the consolation semifinals at the California Tournament.</p>

Democrat photo/ Kevin Labotka

Hayden Green drives to the hoop in California’s 75-60 loss to St. Elizabeth Jan. 10 in the consolation semifinals at the California Tournament.

The California Pintos lost to St. Elizabeth 75-60 in a competitive game Jan. 10 during the consolation semifinals of the California Tournament.

The Pintos lost 84-51 to Southern Boone on Jan. 8 in their first round game, where they trailed by as much as 40 points.

The Pintos rebounded from that loss, as they had a good first half where they traded baskets with St. Elizabeth and led 26-23 in the second quarter. However, St. Elizabeth ended the quarter with a 14-4 run to take a 37-30 lead at halftime.

Turnovers have been an issue for California during the season and Head Coach Ron Lebel said the team had trouble with turnovers again against St. Elizabeth.

"The main problem is that we turn the ball over too much," Lebel said. "We had the game going in a pretty good direction tonight and then we threw (St. Elizabeth) the basketball. Taking care of the basketball is a pretty important part of the game."

The Pintos found themselves in foul trouble in the game, as they had 11 fouls in the first half and 15 fouls in the second half. Lebel said the team needs to move more on defense.

"We stand around too much," Lebel said. "We've got guys standing around and then they end up in spots late. We are a step behind right now."

In the third quarter, the Pintos offense struggled until they got their first field goal with just under five minutes left to play. The teams would continue to trade baskets and, thanks to the Pintos hitting three, 3-pointers in the quarter including back-to-back 3-pointers with just more than a minute to go, California cut the lead down to 51-48.

Lebel said the key to the offensive success late in the quarter was the fact the team was hitting shots.

"It is amazing how good your offense looks when you hit a few shots," Lebel said. "You hit a few shots, you start to feel good and you start to play with a little bit more energy. When you hit a few shots, you feel better about yourself and your offense looks a lot better."

In the fourth quarter, the Pintos were able to get into the bonus early and they shot 5-10 from the free throw line. The team was unable to match St. Elizabeth's offense, as St. Elizabeth went on a 6-2 run to expand their lead to 57-50.

St. Elizabeth would hold on to the win after outscoring California 24-17 in the final quarter.

Isaac Ash had a game high of 21 points for California. Trystan Hees had 16 points and Jordon Geiser added 14 points.

The Pintos ended the tournament with a record of 0-2 and Lebel said the team can learn a lot from the tournament.

"Every game we are trying to learn stuff and we are watching film," Lebel said. "We are trying to limit turnovers. We struggle in a lot of areas in the basketball game and we have been in pretty much every game we have played in this year.

"(If) we cut down on a few turnovers, we make a few more free throws, we can win some games. It is a growing process right now."