California High School Pintos basketball tipped-off their 2023-24 season last week at the Tipton Tournament.
The Pintos went 2-1 in Tipton to take home third place after a last-second victory over the Camdenton Lakers in the third place game on Saturday.
California entered the tournament as the No. 4 seed of the Tipton Tournament and took on the No. 5 seed Eldon Mustangs in the first round.
The two conference rivals were evenly matched in the first half on the scoreboard. However, Eldon knocked down five threes in the first half to put the Pintos on their heels. Despite the Mustangs' long range barrage, the Pintos took a 30-27 lead into halftime.
California came out in the second half and got their offense into high gear. Led by senior guard Gavin Porter and forward Landen Dunham, the Pintos exploded for 40 points in the second half. California was able to hold on in the final minutes to beat Eldon 70-61 and advance to the semifinals in the winner's bracket.
The Pintos shot 51 percent from the field (29-57), 25 percent from the three-point line (2-8) and 50 percent from the free throw line (10-20). The Mustangs shot 42 percent from the field (22-52), 46 percent from the three-point line (12-26) and 45 percent from the free throw line (5-11). California out-rebounded Eldon 37-20.
For California, junior forward Hayden Kilmer had a team-high 18 points, six rebounds, two steals and two assists. Senior guard Gavin Porter had 15 points, four steals, four rebounds and an assist. Forward Landen Dunham had ten points, 11 rebounds and a block. Guard Ayden Bryant had ten points, six rebounds, four assists and two steals.
California head coach Brad Conway was pleased with the way his team came out in the second half and controlled the pace of the game, breaking down Eldon's full-court press defense.
Conway acknowledged the fact that the Pintos have some kinks to iron out in their game, but he said the win over Eldon was a good start to the tournament and the season.
"I thought we did a good job of attacking the rim and breaking down their press and got some easy layups. We missed a few but those are things that we're going to get better at," Conway said. "I thought at times tonight, we did an exceptional job defensively, especially with our press and getting deflections and steals. We had some guys out of position tonight with our substitutions, but I thought the guys held their own and did a nice job."
Following their first round win over Eldon, California's next game came on Thursday night against the No. 1 seed Versailles Tigers, who were led by guard Ryder Williams.
California trailed at halftime by seven points with Williams already scoring 20 points. The Pintos tried to come back in the second half, but struggled to knock down shots and make a run, allowing Versailles to cruise to a 65-49 victory.
The Pintos shot 33 percent from the field (18-54), 28 percent from the three-point line (5-18) and 47 percent from the foul line (8-17). The Tigers shot 39 percent from the field (23-59), 24 percent from the three-point line (6-25) and 62 percent from the foul line (13-20).
For California, forward Hayden Kilmer scored a team-high 20 points with six rebounds and two assists. Dunham had ten points and 12 rebounds. Bryant had six points, five rebounds and two steals.
Versailles guard Ryder Williams finished with 32 points for the Tigers.
Conway said the difference in the semifinal game was California's shooting struggles in the second half. The Pintos were able to put together a scoring run in the second half and Versailles was able to capitalized.
"It came down to the fact that they started making shots and we didn't knock down shots. I thought we had some really good looks. The shots just didn't drop for us. We just couldn't put the ball in the hole," Conway said. "You're going to have nights like that and we've still got some guys who are still trying to get their basketball legs under them. I told the guys that it's our second game and its a process. We've just got to look at the positive and correct the mistakes."
The Pintos came back to Tipton on Saturday night for their final game of the tournament against the Camdenton Lakers for third place. The Lakers defeated California 70-41 in the two team's last meeting in February.
The Pintos' shooting woes from their semifinal game followed them into the first quarter against Camdenton. California made only three field goals in the first eight minutes and trailed 16-7 at the end of the first quarter. The Lakers controlled the pace for most of the first half, but California managed to cut the lead to three at halftime.
The Pintos came out in the second half and continued to claw their way back into the game attacking the basket. The Pintos scored 18 points in the third quarter. With 5.4 seconds left in the third quarter, the Pintos trailed by four after Camdenton completed a three-point play. After the free throw, California raced down the floor and forward Blain Kusgen scored a layup and was fouled with 1.9 seconds left. Kusgen missed the free throw, but Porter got the offensive rebound and hit a left-handed floated as the clock ran out to tie the game 40-40 going into the fourth quarter.
With less than a minute remaining in the game, the Pintos trailed by one when Porter came up with a steal. Porter drove to the basket and a Camdenton defender touched the ball while it was on the rim. California now led by one.
Bryant knocked down a free throw to put the Pintos up 52-50 with 7.1 seconds left in the game. The Lakers were unable to knock down the potential game-winning three and California finished third place in the Tipton Tournament with a 52-50 over the Lakers. Dunham and Kilmer were named to the All-Tournament team.
The Pintos shot 40 percent from the field (21-52), 29 percent from the three-point line (2-7) and 42 percent from the foul line (8-19). The Pintos also stole the ball 21 times. The Lakers shot 38 percent from the field (18-47), 41 percent from the three-point line (9-22) and 100 percent from the foul line (5-5).
For California, Dunham had 13 points, 11 rebounds, two blocks and a steal. Porter had ten points, five steals, four rebounds and two assists. Bryant had seven points, six rebounds, six steals and a block. Kilmer had seven points, four rebounds, two assists, two steals and a block. Guard Brooks Volkart had five points, seven assists, three steals and two rebounds.
Conway said the Pintos did just enough down the stretch of the game to pull off the win. California's third place finish at the Tipton Tournament was a surprise to some fans. Conway said the two wins last week were a sign of how lethal California can be.
The Pintos travel to Hermann to take on the Hermann Wildcats on Friday.
(Democrat photo/Evan Holmes)
Sophomore forward Landen Dunham was named to the Tipton Tournament All-Tournament team last week.
(Democrat photo/Evan Holmes)
Junior guard Brooks Volkart goes up and scores on a reverse layup in California's 70-61 over Eldon in the opening round of the Tipton Tournament.
(Democrat photo/Evan Holmes)
Junior forward Hayden Kilmer scored a team-high 20 points in California's loss to Versailles in the Tipton Tournament semifinals.
(Democrat photo/Evan Holmes)
Sophomore forward Landen Dunham scores a layup with a foul at the Tipton Tournament against the Eldon Mustangs.
(Democrat photo/Evan Holmes)
Senior guard Gavin Porter had ten points, five steals, four rebounds and two assists in California's 52-50 win over Camdenton to win third place at the Tipton Tournament.
(Democrat photo/Evan Holmes)
Sophomore forward Landen Dunham scored ten points and pulled down 12 rebounds against the Versailles Tigers at the Tipton Tournament.
(Democrat photo/Evan Holmes)
Senior guard Ayden Bryant had ten points, six rebounds, four assists and two steals in California's win over the Eldon Mustangs at the Tipton Tournament.
(Democrat photo/Evan Holmes)
Pintos head coach Brad Conway coached the Pintos to a third place finish at the Tipton Tournament last week.
(Democrat photo/Evan Holmes)
Brooks Volkart scores a fast break layup for the Pintos in the first half against the Versailles Tigers in the Tipton Tournament semifinals.
(Democrat photo/Evan Holmes)
(Democrat photo/Evan Holmes)
California guard Brooks Volkart orchestrates the offense against the Eldon Mustangs.
(Democrat photo/Evan Holmes)
Brayden Hallford shoots two free throws for the Pintos against Versailles at the Tipton Tournament on Thursday.