The Anzar boys basketball team bounced back in a big way Thursday with a 71-32 win over Greenfield.
Two days prior, the Hawks suffered a disappointing loss to Soledad and coach Ed Cecena was happy to see his team respond.
“We needed to get our confidence back after losing to Soledad,” Cecena said. “We needed to get our swagger back.”
Scott Benson and Erik Olson were the twin towers in the middle for Anzar (15-7, 7-3 Mission Trail Athletic League).
The 6-foot-2 forward Benson had 29 points and 17 rebounds, while Olson, a 6-4 center, added 23 points, 13 rebounds and six blocks.
“We were just playing solid defense,” Cecena said. “They couldn’t really do much against our size. We got a lot of fast break opportunities.”
The Hawks jumped on Greenfield (2-15, 0-10) quickly, taking a 14-2 lead after the first quarter and pushing it to 37-9 at halftime.
The Bruins matched Anzar with 13 points in the third quarter but were outscored 21-10 in the fourth.
Anzar will square off with Stevenson at 3pm Saturday in a tough road contest. The Pirates had a half-game lead for second place on the Hawks entering their game Thursday against Soledad. Anzar lost the first matchup 54-38.
