Warrior Basketball
The Warriors dominated the boards against Arvin and routed the Bears
on the mountain, 92-57. Photo by Michael Duffy, The Tehachapi News
Posted by Tom Shea, The Tehachapi News, on February 15, 2011 Warriors Blast Through Arvin and Shafter
in SSL Play; Now 6-2
After the Warriors took the court against Arvin last Tuesday and opened up to a 25-0 lead, you had a feeling that it was going to be a favorable home stand for the Mountain Cagers in South Sequoia League play.
Tehachapi (12-12; 6-2 SSL) did not disappoint, rolling to a 92-57 win over Arvin and a 62-48 victory over Shafter in the second to last week of their regular season.
"It was a bit of vindication for us," said head coach Chris Olofson. "We told our guys that giving Arvin 68 points (the first league game) was unacceptable and we avenged an overtime loss to Shafter from a couple weeks ago. It was a good effort by our guys."
Nick Buttcane had seven points and nine rebounds to lead the Warriors past Arvin, while Cory Lange had 19 points and seven assists.
Levi Garrett chipped in with 16 points and three steals and Gabe Saavedra had eight rebounds in the blowout win.
"We're playing well at the right time of year," added Olofson. "Points have never been the issue for us. We have guys that can score. But defensively, we've made huge strides over the last few weeks and it showed."
Other contributors against Arvin included Darren Smith with five points and seven rebounds, Kash Knudson with 10 points, Nick Phillips with 12 points and four assists, Justin Hedberg with six points and five rebounds and Dallas Scaggs with six points and seven rebounds. Ryan Harris also had three points and two assists.
Last Friday against Shafter, the Warriors found themselves down after the first quarter 15-13, but found their niche the rest of the way in an eventual 62-48 drubbing.
"We outscored them 22-9 in the third quarter and that was a big difference in the game," Olofson said. "Good defense creates transition opportunities and we had a lot of that going in our favor (against Shafter)."
Travis Farewell had a big night against the Generals, registering a double-double 14 point and 10 rebound night, while also recording six steals. Cory Lange also had 11 points, seven assists and six steals, while Justin Hedberg had 13 points.
As a team, Tehachapi went 11-18 at the free-throw line.
"Our rotation has been reworked and our guys are buying into what we're doing and figuring out what they need to do," Olofson said. "We have another big week and we want to keep playing at a high level."