The California Pintos opened the basketball season last Tuesday with a trip to Moberly to take on the Spartans.
The game was a tight one form the start with both teams constantly changing leads. However, California went on a second half run and build a 15-point lead, which was threatened in the final minutes. California held on for a 68-63 win and extended their winning streak against Moberly to three games.
Before the game, California coach Brad Conway said in order for the Pintos to win, they had to execute their offensive sets and rebound the ball more. California had a smaller team than Moberly and everyone had to crash the glass to have a chance to beat the Spartans.
Of the six field goals California made in the first quarter, five of them were layups as the Pintos trailed 16-14 at the end of the first quarter.
The second quarter followed a familiar pattern with both teams going back and forth with points. However, California strategy of attacking the paint would reap the reward of putting Moberly in the penalty. California went 5-of-10 from the foul line in the second quarter to remain within striking distance.
California also got a boost from sophomore forward Martin Kilmer in the first half, when he hit 5-of-6 shots for 10 first-half points as the Pintos held a 29-27 lead at intermission.
In the second half, the Pintos stuck to their guns of attacking the basket. The score was tied at 36 with just under six minutes left in the third quarter, when California took control of the game by putting the Spartans in the penalty early. Junior guard Ayden Bryant and senior center Hunter Berendzen went a combined 6-of-8 from the line in the third quarter to give the Pintos a nine-point lead, their largest lead of the game by either team.
The Pintos went into the fourth quarter up by nine, but the Spartans were not ready for the game to end. However, the Pintos defense responded to the challenge, as they forced the Spartans into five fourth quarter turnovers and went up by 15 after junior guard Gavin Porter got a friendly bounce on a 3-pointer.
Despite one last comeback attempt from Moberly, who made it a four-point game with 28.6 seconds left, California guard Brooks Volkart made one last steal and the Pintos ran the clock out with their passing. When the final buzzer went off, California won the game 68-63.
California shot 42 percent from the field (27-of-65), and 69 percent from the foul line (22-of-32). The most surprising statistic in the game was the free-throw shooting. California attempted 26 more free throws than Moberly, for a free-throw point differential of 18 points.
Bryant was the high scorer with 18 points, while recording three assists, three rebounds, and two steals. Berendzen had a double-double with 16 points and 11 rebounds. Berendzen also made all eight of his free-throw attempts. Kilmer had 14 points on 7-of-10 shooting off the bench with four rebounds. Porter scored 13 points and added three steals.
Two of Conway's keys to victories was to win the battle of rebounding and execute their sets on offense. The Pintos did both by winning the rebounding battle 35-26 and scored 36 points in the point. Not being a tall team this season, Conway said that everyone had to rebound and looks for shots that are high-percentage shots, which California found just enough of to win the game.
"When we run our sets, we're looking for a specific high-percentage shot. If it's not there, we don't force the ball and we play the next play. I thought there were a couple times in the second half where we tried to do too much with the ball and we came up empty," Conway said. "But overall, throughout the whole game, I thought we executed our sets very well. We have to also have balanced scoring. We've got some guys who can score, but we don't have to rely on a couple of guys that are going to give us 20 points every night. All of our guys showed that we can be a balance team and I like balanced teams because it's harder for them to defend us."
Conway said California started off shaky on defense at the start of the game and had to make several adjustments in the huddles and locker room. Conway also said California's defense improved dramatically in the second half and it forced turnovers at critical times in the third and fourth quarters. However, Conway also reminder the Pintos after the win that this game was the first of many and there will still changes to be made from now until California's next game.
"When you get that first win, it's nice to get it under your belt. It helps us get confidence. I told our kids tonight after the game that it's a long season and we may have gotten our first one, but there's still a lot of work left to do," Conway said. "I thought we did some really good things tonight. Defensively, we didn't defend in the first half like we needed to. In the second half we did. We rebounded the ball really well tonight, which has been a big point of emphasis for us. We're not a big team, so we've got to box out and have everybody get rebounds. We we're also able to execute and knock down shots when we needed to."
The Pintos move on to take part in the Tipton Tournament this week. They played Eldon on Tuesday and will play either Versailles or New Bloomfield in the second round.
Pintos head coach (left) addresses his team before the second half. (Democrat photo/Evan Holmes)
Junior point guard Ayden Bryant had a team-high 18 points against the Moberly Spartans on Nov. 23. (Democrat photo/Evan Holmes)
Senior center Hunter Berendzen made 8-8 from the foul line against Moberly. Berendzen had 16 points and 11 rebounds on Nov. 23. (Democrat photo/Evan Holmes)
Sophomore guard Hayden Kilmer knocks down a mid-range jumper for the Pintos in the third quarter. (Democrat photo/Evan Holmes)
Sophomore Hayden Kilmer knocks down a jumper from just above the foul line to give California a two-point lead at halftime. (Democrat photo/Evan Holmes)
Sophomore Hayden Kilmer had 14 points on 7-10 shooting off the bench against the Moberly Spartans. (Democrat photo/Evan Holmes)
Junior guard Ayden Bryant drives past his defender for a score in the fourth quarter. (Democrat photo/Evan Holmes)
Senior forward Chase Schlup gets set to box out for a rebound. (Democrat photo/Evan Holmes)
Junior Ayden Bryant shoots two free throws with the Pintos up 65-58 in the final minutes. (Democrat photo/Evan Holmes)
Junior guard Gavin Porter hit 3-6 from the foul line against the Spartans. Porter had 13 points on 5-10 from the field in the game. (Democrat photo/Evan Holmes)
Sophomore point guard Brooks Volkart freezes the Moberly defender with a dribble between the legs. (Democrat photo/Evan Holmes)
Pintos Head Coach Brad Conway steps back onto the court from the second half with California ahead 29-27.(Democrat photo/Evan Holmes)