Del Norte taken down by Spartans

Up by two at end of first quarter, Warriors lose to Pinole Valley by 18

Senior Chris Scott of the Del Norte High boys varsity basketball team goes inside looking for a bucket in a game agaisnt Pinole Valley Friday night. For more photos from the game go to triplicate.com/photos. (The Daily Triplicate/Rick Postal)

CRESCENT CITY — Playing a good Bay Area school from a tough conference in Pinole Valley did not intimidate the Warriors to start things off Friday night.

In front of an enthusiastic home crowd at the third day of the 2009 Del Norte Rotary Classic, the Del Norte High varsity boys basketball squad came out fired up and took a quick 6-2 lead.

The Spartans, a Division II school that plays in the Alameda Contra Costa League, got back in the game and trailed 16-14 the end of the quarter.

Warrior head coach Scott Alexander said he was pleased with the way his squad was not intimidated, came out, went at  Pinole Valley, and had their shots fall in.

“We went out and competed,” he said.

In the second quarter, Pinole Valley used their great quickness, size and athletic ability and roared back, taking a 35-24 lead into the half. In the second period the Warriors were outscored by the Spartans 21-8.

Alexander said the problem was his squad turned the ball over too much and the shots stopped dropping in.

In the second half Pinole Valley opened things up by as much as 20 points.

But the Warriors did not go down without a fight and battled but could not cut into the Pinole Valley lead as they fell 62-44.

Alexander said that overall he was pleased with the way his squad played.

To him, playing a team like Pinole Valley can only make his squad better by having them face top competition early in the season in preparation for a tough Big 5 Conference slate.

Del Norte was led by junior Nick McBride, one of four Warriors who scored in the contest. He went right at the Spartans to start things off, making several nifty shots that had the crowd cheering.

He finished with 18 points, 12 coming in the first half.

Senior Scottie Skeen also had  a good game and stroked in four three-pointers to finish with 12 points. Senior Chris Scott finished with eight points, while Travis Stacey rounded out the Del Norte  scoring with six points.

Leading all scorers was the Spartans’ dynamic shooting  guard Markee Rhymes,  who  was a force on both sides of the ball scoring and causing turnovers. He finished with 24 points while  Kairon Moore had 12 points.

Del Norte dropped to 3-5 overall and finished 1-2 at the classic. Pinole Valley improved to 7-2.

Del Norte has a bit of a break and will next play on Dec. 28, when they go to Redding to face host team Enterprise at a three- day tournament. The game begins at 6 p.m.

In other classic games on Friday the Del Norte High freshman team downed the Illinois Valley JV team 61-19. The Hoopa JV team fell to McKinleyville. In varsity action Hoopa took down Illinois Valley in an 87-79 shootout.

Below is today’s schedule for the final day of the Warrior Classic.

Del Norte freshman versus Hoopa JV, 10 a.m.; Pinole Valley varsity versus Hoopa varsity, 11 a.m.; Brookings JV versus McKinleyville JV, 1 p.m.