Warriors plundered by Pirates 62-53

Junior point guard Layton O’Reilley of the Del Norte High boys varsity basketball team dribbles the ball down the court against Marshfield of Coos Bay, Ore., at home Wednesday night. The Warriors fell to the Pirates 62-53. The Daily Triplicate/Bryant Anderson

The Warriors found themselves down 10-0 to start the game against the Marshfield Pirates of Coos Bay, Ore.,  during the first day of the 10th annual 2009 Del Norte Rotary Classic.

While they were able to keep things close in spurts the rest of the way they still ended up falling 62-53 to the Pirates.

“You’re always battling back  when you get down like that,” Warrior head coach Scott Alexander said.  Another key factor was turnovers, with Del Norte giving up the ball 16 times, Alexander said.

By the end of the first quarter the Warriors were down 12-4.

In the second quarter Del Norte started to show signs of life in front of the home fans, who came out for the first home game  of the year, and got the score down to 17-16. By the end of the half Del Norte found themselves down only 23-22 to the Pirates.

The Warriors hung tough in  the  third quarter and went to work getting the lead down to size.

A three-pointer by  the Warriors  gave them a 36-35  advantage, giving the crowd something to cheer about.

The Pirates quickly doused any celebration thoughts and quickly took a 41-35 lead and had a 43-35 advantage at the end of the third quarter.

In the fourth quarter Marshfield kept on extending its lead and was up  62-50 with under a minute left.

With time running out Wyatt Hegnes of Del Norte put up a three-pointer, which went  in to  to end the game as the Pirates earned the nine-point win.

The Warriors dropped to 2-4 for the year and Marshfield improved to 2-3.

Leading all scorers was Marshfield senior Kyle Tedder with 22 points.

For the Warriors junior Nick McBride and Chris Scott each had 12 points to lead the team. Other scorers for the Warriors  included Layton O’Reilley with seven points. Zach Heglemeyer finished with five points and Brandon Kakitsuka had four points

Today,  Del Norte will face Hoopa at 7 p.m. at the second day of the event and will play Pinole Valley on Friday at 7 p.m.

Del Norte JV

The Warrior JV team had an excellent outcome in their first home game of the year, downing Brooking-Harbor at the Warrior Classic 62-50 to improve to 4-3 for the year.

“They played very aggressive,” JV head coach Kevin Baxter  said. “It was our best game of the year.”

Leading the way was Collin Taylor, who had 18 points. Kody Osborne chipped in 16 points for the Warriors.