The Heritage Christian boys basketball crew misplaced to Bakersfield Centennial within the CIF SoCal Regional Championship recreation on Tuesday. (Picture: Aaron Heisen)
NORTH HILLS — Freddie Crawford hit a 3-pointer with 5 minutes remaining within the CIF Southern California Division II regional closing that encapsulated the weaknesses that plagued Heritage Christian in its 68-56 loss on Tuesday and defined the erratic play that plagued the Warriors all through. season.
Crawford's 3 was the primary area purpose not made by Dillon Shaw, who led the Warriors with 25 factors, or Tae Simmons, who had 10 factors.
Which ends up in a much bigger drawback: On an evening when the Warriors (26-8) shot simply 14 from the sphere, it was their lack of expertise — Shaw and Simmons are the one upperclassmen enjoying vital minutes — that doomed them.
“(Centennial) performs six seniors, two juniors,” Heritage Christian head coach Paul Tait mentioned. “We’re the exact opposite.
“In these strain cooker moments,” Tait continued, “it actually helps to have the ability to knock down a shot.
That's the place Tait hit it proper on the top.
Shaw discovered the driving lanes and the Warriors created open appears for his or her shooters, however the photographs simply weren't falling.
They opened the sport and constructed an 11-10 lead due to manufacturing alternatives for Shaw and Simmons close to the basket, mismatches the place they might catch, flip and end. However these favorable appears disappeared when Centennial's protection sped them up.
Freshmen Djordan Corridor and Josiah Nance are likely to deal with the ball in these units that contain inbound passes, and the strain led to timidity.
“A few our freshmen had large turnovers early,” Tait mentioned. “It sort of snowballed downhill after that.
The Golden Hawks (28-7) took a 30-21 lead into halftime earlier than extending the result in as many as 22 within the third quarter. The Warriors switched to a determined 1-3-1 half-court strain that turned errant passes into turnovers, however when broke, led to open three-point photographs.
“If you share the basketball, you get numerous 3s,” Centennial head coach Hernan Santiago mentioned. “Michael Gutierrez is an unimaginable three-point shooter.
On Tuesday, Gutierrez scored a team-high 16 factors as he knocked down 4 photographs from past the arc. He and Rippen Gill, who had 15 factors, every made two 3-pointers within the third quarter to assist the Golden Hawks drive via the Warriors' zone.
Centennial's pesky protection and efficient capturing from deep made it tough for Heritage Christian to come back again.
“He shoots 29.5% from 3,” Tait mentioned. “I'm guessing they shot over 30 p.c tonight. When the numbers don't go our means, we attempt to pace them up, we attempt to do one thing else. We needed to get out of what we had been doing.”
As they trailed, the Warriors not often touched Shaw and Simmons on the within. Once they did, it resulted in missed photographs or journeys to the free throw line, the place the pair had been typically break up up.
In some ways, Tuesday's loss mirrored the one Heritage Christian suffered in opposition to St. Anthony within the CIF Southern Part Division 2AA finals. Within the face of strain, the Warriors not often performed quick units and couldn't string collectively stops and scores.
Counting on youth can result in flaws like these, however on the finish of the day, the Warriors had been a younger bunch that grew.
“Plenty of us will probably be again subsequent yr,” Tait mentioned. “I advised them, 'Positive, let it damage a bit of, however then take into consideration what we will be taught from it.'
