The California Pintos traveled back to Boonville on Saturday afternoon to face conference rival Blair Oaks in the championship game of the Tri-County Conference Tournament.
The two-time defending tournament champion Blair Oaks completed their three-peat as Tri-County Conference Tournament champions, defeating California 68-39.
While California (4-1) and Blair Oaks (3-0) had made it to the championship game, both teams had traveled different paths to get there. Blair Oaks came into the tournament as the No. 1 seed and has been the team to beat in conference play for multiple years. The Falcons continued their run of superiority during this year's tournament, soundly defeating Eldon 97-40 and Osage 75-41 to earn a chance to three-peat. In their win against Osage, Blair Oaks senior guard Quinn Kusgen joined the Falcons' 1,000 point club.
Overshadowed by the Falcons' dominance, California got to the championship game by playing the role of underdogs. California entered the tournament as the No. 6 seed, and the Pintos soon found themselves trailing the No. 3 seed Southern Boone Eagles by 14 points at halftime in the opening round. California rallied to outscore Southern Boone 32-11 in the second half to pull off the 53-46 upset. The Pintos then played the role of spoilers again, defeating No. 2 Boonville 73-58 after pulling away in the second half once again.
Pintos head coach Brad Conway said he knew from first-hand coaching experience that the Falcons were loaded with firepower. He said he knew his team was going to have to shoot at a high percentage and not give the ball away to have a fighting chance against the Falcons.
Things didn't go according to plan for the Pintos as the game began. Blair Oaks had brought their intensity up a notch from their last two games, and the Pintos couldn't match it. The Falcons took command in the first half behind the interior powerhouse that was senior forward Luke Northweather. The 6-foot-10 forward scored 14 points in the first half, despite picking up two fouls in the first quarter.
In addition to Northweather finding his rhythm early, the Pintos struggled to knock down their shots. Junior forward Hunter Berendzen scored the first seven California points, but the Falcons' defense made it difficult for everyone else to put the ball in the basket. Struggling for points, the Pintos now had to rely on their defense more than ever to create opportunities.
The only problem was that Blair Oaks had forced the Pintos to play at their pace and the Pintos had trouble keeping up with them. California turned the ball over six times in the second quarter and were beaten in transition multiple times. Blair Oaks scored eight points off of turnovers and eight fastbreak points in the first half. California continued to struggle and trailed 30-16 at the half.
In the second half, the Pintos looked to get everyone more involved in their offense, Calen Kruger and Trevor Myers, in particular. Both had struggled in the first half and looked to rewrite the script. Unfortunately for California, the second half followed a similar pattern as the first.
Blair Oaks continued to pressure the Pintos into turning the ball over, and they always had an answer to all of California's scoring runs. Despite being in foul trouble, Luke Northweather continued to overwhelm the Pintos in the paint and capitalized on his performance with a facial dunk over Trevor Myers, which then turned into a three-point play.
Despite their efforts, the Pintos couldn't catch up to the Falcons and suffered their first defeat of the season. Blair Oaks took the 68-39 victory and the tournament crown. Although their underdog run in the tournament ended one win short of first place, the Pintos took second place and took home a trophy for their run to the championship game.
Trevor Myers led California in scoring with 11 points. Myers also contributed four rebounds and two assists. Hunter Berendzen scored nine points and pulled down five rebounds. Luke Northweather scored a game-high 23 points for Blair Oaks.
The Pintos struggled on offense on Saturday. California only shot 30 percent from the floor and 17 percent from three-point range but did convert 82 percent of their free throws and had 23 total rebounds.
Conway said he knew going into the game the Pintos couldn't beat themselves if they wanted to have a chance to win. However, the fastbreak points that Blair Oaks scored in the first half dictated the pace of the game, and the Pintos weren't able to keep up with the Falcons because of it.
"I felt like they had a quick eight points off of our miscues. Then, in the second half, when we started getting a little tired, our turnovers led to a lot of easy transition baskets for them," Conway explained. "Against a good team like that, you can't give them the ball and let them shoot uncontested layups."
Conway said the Pintos knew coming into the championship game that if they were going to knock Blair Oaks off their throne, they would have to find ways to get their shots to fall. When they weren't able to make a big scoring run and stop Blair Oaks, their spirits were drained. That's something that Conway said they'll have to avoid in future games.
"I thought we kind of dropped our heads a few times on some turnovers and some shots that we had been hitting throughout the week. Our body language wasn't as positive as it needed to be," Conway said. "We've just got to get back to work and be ready for Tuesday."
That Tuesday game Conway mentioned was against Knob Noster (3-1) at home. California will then hit the road for their next two games. First, California will play Missouri Military Academy (0-2) on Friday and then Centralia (1-2) next Tuesday.
Democrat photo/Evan Holmes
Sophomore guard Ayden Bryant drives to the basket and draws a foul against Blair Oaks.
Democrat photo/Evan Holmes
Senior guard Trevor Myers scored 11 points against the Blair Oaks Falcons Saturday afternoon.