Warriors Basketball
Warrior Nathan Collier #20 drives toward the basket in a quarter-final CIF playoff game in Bakersfield. The West High Vikings ended the 2016
Warrior season with an 83-68 win over Tehachapi on February 25. The Warriors defeated Golden West of Visalia, 73-69, in the opening round
of the playoffs. (Photo by The Tehachapi News.)
Posted by John Nelson, The Tehachapi News, on Febuary 23, 2016 Warriors Go Down Fighting
In Quarter-Finals of CIF Tournament
Even a quarter-final loss in the CIF basketball tournament couldn't dampen the Warriors sense of pride.
Despite their shortcomings, they were, after all, a team that had thrived on emotion all season long – sometimes too much of it, as first-year head coach Louie Saavedra would point out to them occasionally.
The Warriors season ended in their third loss in less than a month to South Yosemite League rival West. The most costly of those losses came in the quarter-finals of the CIF-CS Division 3 tournament on Thursday night, Feb. 25 at West, by a score of 83-69.
“It was one great ride,” Saavedra said. “Our boys are fierce competitors, and our basketball program is just going to get better.”
The coach's younger brother, senior Jonny Saavedra, scored a game-high 29 points against West, but the Warriors simply gave away too much in height and sheer athleticism to the Vikings.
As quick as the Warriors were, the Vikings were just a little bit quicker, using a pressure defense to score some easy baskets in transition that Tehachapi couldn't answer.
“We started off well, and it was a very intense game,” Jonny Saavedra said. “It just came down to the basic fundamentals of the game, which include minimizing turnovers, boxing out and playing smart.
“I was very proud of my team, though. We honestly fought 'til the end.”
First Round Victory
Saavedra provided much of the heroics that got Tehachapi into the second round. Against Golden West in the opening round, Saavedra scored 40 points, 27 of them in the first half, as the Warriors won 73-69 at home on Tuesday, Feb. 23. He scored all but two points in Tehachapi’s 22-point first quarter, then hit a 3 to start the second quarter.
Despite Saavedra's blitz, the Warriors never led Golden West by more than 8 points.
“It was a little too close for comfort,” Louie Saavedra said.
After leading for most of the game, however, the Warriors fell behind 66-64 with 1:08 to play. They forged ahead once again, 70-66, on four consecutive free throws – two by Chris Llamas and two by Saavedra – after a technical was called on the Golden West bench for arguing a foul call with 22.5 seconds to play.
Free throws would play a key role in how this game would unwind as the Warriors missed 7 of 8 from the line over one 10-second stretch with the clock running out.
Golden West, meanwhile, clawed to within 70-69 on a 3-point jumper by Jason Pascua with 12.8 seconds to play.
Pascua, however, threw the ball out of bounds with 2.3 seconds left, and Saavedra was fouled on the inbounds, giving him one final chance to put the game away from the free throw line.
“It would have been nice to make those other free throws,” Saavedra said, “but I told myself we have to end this right here.”
He made both free throws with 1.7 seconds left, and that clinched the victory, sending the Warriors into the second round against West.
The Warriors wound up 13-15 for the season after finishing 4-6 in the South Yosemite League.
“I'm really proud of our team, and I'm going to miss them,” Jonny Saavedra said. “We are a brotherhood and together we're one team, one goal.”