Warriors take the loss

Drop game to Fortuna

Collin Taylor, above, of Del Norte, goes to the basket against Fortuna Wednesday night. He led Warrior scorers with 13. Del Norte lost the Big 5 Conference contest to the Huskies 54-39. Del Norte Triplicate/Bryant Anderson

Facing Fortuna at home on homecoming night, the Warriors fell to the Huskies 54-39 in Big 5 Conference action.

While Del Norte trailed by only six after three quarters, the Huskies made their shots in the final quarter while Del Norte struggled putting points on the board.

Although the defense played well, head coach Blaine Lopez said his team’s inability to hit shots, including many easy layups, proved to be the key reason for the loss.

“They made shots and we didn’t,” he said. “We have to make those shots two feet from the basket if we want to have a shot to win games like this.”

Collin Taylor led Warrior scorers with 13 points. Darian Simpson had 11 points, including three 3-pointers.

In the first quarter, good defense, from grabbing loose ball s to creating turnovers helped Del Norte stay in the contest. Near the end of the quarter, Taylor nailed a shot to reduce the lead to 10-7. But Brady Shaha drained a three at the buzzer to give the Huskies the 13-10 advantage.

Zach Dunavin reacts after being named senior homecoming king at halftime of the basketball game. Del Norte Triplicate/Bryant Anderson

In the third quarter Del Norte opened things up with a few quick points and started to be more consistant making shots. By the end of the third period Del Norte trailed 38-32 and was certainly still in the game.  In the fourth quarter the Warriors could muster up only seven more points as they lost the contest by 15 points.

Del Norte dropped to 1-2 in the Big 5 and 5-9 overall. Fortuna improved to 14-7 overall and 2-2 in the Big 5.

Other Warriors that scored include Aaron Fitch with five points and Doug Ovick with four. Ryland Hollins and Colby Japp each scored two points apiece. Shaha led the Huskies with 23 points.

At halftime, the senior homecoming king was named. This year’s winner was Zach Dunavin.

 In the junior varsity game the Warriors fell 44-34 while the freshman team was victorious 50-37.

Del Norte faces Arcata, the favorite to take the Big 5 title this season, Friday night on the road. The varsity game begins at 7:30 p.m.

Last season, the Tigers and Warriors co-shared the Big 5 crown.

This year, Arcata is again at the top of the standings.

Lopez said his team must play one of its best outings of the season if they want to defeat an opponent like the Tigers.

Reach Bill Choy at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it