Season begins for Warrior hoops teams at Yreka

Girls fall in OT to Pelicans 55-52(Story after the jump)

The year started out just right for the Del Norte High boys varsity basketball team on Thursday.

The Warriors earned a 58-47 win against Klamath Union at the Yreka Miners Invit­ational Bask­e­­t­­ba­ll To­urnament. 

“It feels great,” second year Del Norte head coach Scott Alexander said. “I learned last year that you enjoy every victory. We’re enjoying this (win).”

Against the Pelicans of Klamath Falls, the Warriors controlled things for the vast majority of the game.

After jumping out to an early 8-2 lead, Klamath Union came back and took the lead at 12-11.

Del Norte bounced back and held onto a 14-8 lead at the end of the opening quarter. At the end of the second quarter the Warriors were able to maintain a 29-24  advantage.

The third quarter was when  the Warriors really started to shine. Alexander said that things started to pick up for Del Norte, which dominated on both sides of the court to take a 41-31 lead.

Things continued to go well in the fourth quarter as the Warriors ran away for the 11 point win.

Alexander said a key for his squad was the defensive pressure his team put on the Pelicans, which they capitalized on with steals and turnovers.

For a first game, Alexander said the  flow for the contest was excellent with the players communicating well, playing with confidence and having a solid understanding of the game plan.

“It was just a good team win,” Alexander said. “Our guys played hard ... A lot of our guys scored. There was a lot of balance.”

Leading the way for the Warriors was junior guard Travis Stacey, who had a memorable first game on the varsity squad after playing last year with the junior varsity team.

He lead the Warriors with 16 points as well as being a key force on defense, his coach said.

“He did a little bit of everything,” Alexander said. “He’s a tough competitor. He shot the ball well.”

A key, Alexander said, was that his team was in good shape and were able to go up and down the court throughout the contest.

“The other team was huffing and puffing, and we were able to be fresh,” Alexander said. “We were in good shape.”

Another key player was junior post player Trevor Babich.

He finished with 10 points and had eight rebounds.

Junior point guard Layton O’Reilley and senior Zach Hegelmeyer each finished with eight points.

While ALexander is pleased with the first game, as in any early season contest there are still things his team must improve. 

This included times when payers were not in the right position on defense, Alexander said. But considering it was a first game it was quite  a success, he said.

This afternoon the Warriors play the winner of the late Thursday contest that had Yreka facing Mount Shasta.

The tournament concludes on Saturday with the Warriors aiming to make the title match.

Girls fall in OT to Pelicans 55-52

In a close  battle to start the season the Del Norte High Warriors girls varsity basketball team came up short in overtime on Thursday.

Facing the Klamath Union Pelicans at the Yreka Miners Invit­ational Basketball To­urnament the Warriors lost 55-52.

With Del Norte up by as much as 10 points in the fourth quarter, Klamath Union mounted  a comeback to send the game into overtime.

“We should have won,” Warrior head coach Buzz McCulloch said. “We were up by 10 in the fourth and all of a sudden they pressed us hard and we threw the ball away and we panicked.”

A key to the loss, McCulloch said, was free throw shooting. The team went only 4-for-10 from the line in the fourth quarter and 0-for-4 in overtime.

“That killed us,” he said, adding if they had shot at least 50 percent from the line they would had won the contest. “I felt we let this game get away.”

While disappointed with the loss McCulloch said his team did several good things for an opening game.

This included moving the ball well down the  court and getting  open looks on offense in the opening half. “For the first game we played pretty well,” he said.

Leading the way for the Warriors was senior Lauryn Lesina. She scored 23 points, went 5-for-6 from the charity stripe and made two three point shots.

McCulloch commended junior Gaby Zepeda, who came off the bench for Del Norte and finished with 10 points. “She did a good job for us tonight,” he said.

Lexie Nelson had six points and Rachael Lawrence and Kristyn Rook each had four points.