The California Pintos boys team won its third game in a row Feb. 9 after defeating the Eldon Mustangs (6-17) 84-65. With the win, the Pintos finished in seventh place for the California Tournament.
It was the second straight win for the Pintos against Eldon, as they also defeated the Mustangs on Feb. 8 by 95-72. California went 26-28 from the free-throw line in the win. They made their first 25 free throws as a team.
In the seventh place game, the Pintos led Eldon 21-11 after the first quarter. The game started off slow, as neither team scored until Eldon took the first basket of the game with just under six minutes to play in the quarter to make it 2-0.
That would be the only time the Pintos trailed in the game, as they built a 21-9 lead with just around 15 seconds to go.
Early in the second quarter, the Mustangs made it a 6-point game and the Pintos led 25-19 with just over six minutes left in the half. Both team's traded baskets until around the three minute mark, when the Pintos went on a 9-5 run to end the half with a 44-28 lead.
In the second half, the Pintos began to pull away as they led 51-31 with 4:30 to play in the third quarter, after going on a 7-3 run to start out. Eldon tried to cut into the lead with an 8-1 point run of their own with just about two minutes left to make it a 52-39 game. California responded and made it a 58-41 game at the end of the third quarter.
The Pintos were in control of the game in the fourth quarter, as they led by as much as 23 points.
The Pintos went 22-31 from the free-throw line in the game. The Pintos did not have as much success with the 3-pointer, as they went 6-26 from deep.
Isaac Ash had 23 points for California. Trystan Hees scored 20 points, Jordon Geiser had 13 and Hayden Hoellering scored 10.