2011-12 Warrior Basketball
The Warriors look to stop the offense of Highland (green) in a recent first round CIF game in Tehachapi. Warrior defenders include Cory Lange #4, Dee White #23,
Justin Hedberg #40, and Zach Poulson #22. The Warriors won the game to advance to the second round of the playoffs. Photo by The Tehachapi News.
Posted by Tom Shea, The Tehachapi News, on February 27, 2012 Warrior Season Ends in Bakersfield
Cory Lange Becomes All-Time Leading Scorer
It was a bitter end to an otherwise memorable season for Mountain Basketball in a 70-55 loss to Independence in last Thursday's CIF quarterfinals.
Tehachapi, the no. 7 seed in the Division III playoffs, had to play catch-up early on after the no. 2 seeded Falcons built a 20-8 first quarter advantage and an eventual 35-21 halftime lead.
Led by an opportunistic defense, Independence was not called for their first foul until almost five minutes remaining in the second quarter. In retrospect, a majority of the Independence points were cashed in at the free throw line after multiple fouls were called against the Warriors on Falcon drives to the lane.
Despite the early deficit, Tehachapi (18-9; 9-1 SSL) clawed back in the game, surging to an 11-0 run in the third quarter to pull within 45-39. However, an offensive foul swung the momentum back to Independence, fueling six straight Falcon points and the eventual 70-55 count.
Cory Lange ended the game as the top scorer for the Warriors with 21 points, followed by Darren Smith with 16 points and Justin Hedberg 10 points. Luke Henderson also had four points, Gabe Saavedra three points and Dalton Scaggs made a free throw.
Earlier in the week, Tehachapi crushed no. 10 Highland-Bakersfield in the first round of the playoffs, led by Lange's 26 points and Hedberg finishing with 19 points. Henderson also got in double figures with 10, followed by Tyler Beardsley with seven points, Smith with six points, Dee White with a basket, and Hunter Carroll a free throw.
Lange's scoring output on the week eclipsed the all-time career scoring mark in Tehachapi's 82 years of basketball. The previous mark was held by 1997 graduate Nick O'Neill, who had 1,074 points in four seasons for the Warriors. Lange finished his tenure as a Warrior with 1,100 career points from 2008-2012.
Senior players on this season's basketball squad included Cory Lange, Anthony Ehrlich, Cody Hall, Ryan Harris, Luke Henderson, Zach Poulson, Dee White, Gabe Saavedra, Tyler Beardsley, Justin Hedberg, Darren Smith, Hunter Carroll and Armando Perez.
Tehachapi was coached this season by Chris Olofson and assisted by Larry Scaggs, Bruce Schkade, Jim Clark, James Henderson and Roger Davis.
Cory Lange's Varsity Scoring Career Statistics
G Pts. Avg. 2008-09 1 2 2.0 2009-10 24 255 10.6 2010-11 14 286 20.4 2011-12 22 557 25.3 Totals 61 1,100 18.0
