Basketball rolls through January

The El Camino Wildcats played the Warriors again, and it was the Cats’ JV and varsity teams who both struck wins from the Warriors. At the varsity game, the Warriors played well and made 56 points, which was average. The Cats handled the ball better and scored 77 points, emerging ahead of the Warriors at the end. The Wildcats, familiar with their players, were all exhausted of breath and lead with many substitutions.

El Camino’s Wildcat coach Jeff Jarrard summed up the JV game as “a battle every time we’ve come up here.” This was an accurate description of the JV game, which ended with Fallbrook 40 and El Camino 46.

The girls JV basketball team won their match against the Oceanside Pirates. The Warrior girls worked the ball well against the Pirates and ended up with a tied score, and it went into overtime. Jennifer Doehrina of the Warriors had 24 points added to the final score of 58 to 54.

JV girls coach Vanderlaan said, “It’s a team effort and our girls are gaining confidence in one another, and it’s made a difference.” Confidence is a key trait for the point guards; it helps reduce errors and steals the other team can take advantage of.

The varsity girls played a close game, sailing alongside the Pirates all the way to the end. The Pirates played a clean game and the Warriors were so close. Toward the end, the Warriors only needed another basket to tie it, but the clock ran out for them. Final score: Fallbrook 47, Oceanside 49. Varsity player Tiffany Hunter scored 19 points for the Warriors.

Varsity coach Len Whiteacre said, “We’re on the verge of turning it around. We have young players, but they play hard. We had a shot to win the game.” Unfortunately, it was from three-point range. It’s a young varsity team without any seniors and the players are mostly juniors.

The varsity boys team played the Pirates and was victorious. The Warriors took the lead from the start and kept hold of it until the end. Justin Padilla made 14 points and Clay McFerran 10. The Warriors scored the most points in the third quarter and the Pirates could not catch up. The mighty Warriors sank the Pirates, 66 to 42.