Anchorpoint managed to take away Anzar’s big man early, but the
host Hawks relied on their outside shooting and took the game away
from the Warriors Tuesday in San Juan Bautista.
San Juan Bautista
Anchorpoint managed to take away Anzar’s big man early, but the host Hawks relied on their outside shooting and took the game away from the Warriors Tuesday in San Juan Bautista.
Anzar center Erik Olson and Steve Mockabee each had a double-double and led the Hawks to a 61-49 win over visiting Anchorpoint Christian in non-league action.
Olson had 19 points and 13 rebounds to lead all scorers on the night and added seven blocks, while Mockabee had 12 points and 10 rebounds to go along with six assists and six steals.
Anchorpoint’s Adrian Rodriguez pocketed 12 points to lead the Warriors, who had difficulty keeping pace with Anzar in the second half.
“We started slow … but we finally got things going in the second half,” Anzar coach Ed Cecena said. “We started knocking down some outside shots and I think that was the key for us tonight.”
Anchorpoint, who couldn’t match the height of the 6-foot-5 Olson, was constantly double- and even triple-teaming the Anzar center every time he touched the ball in the paint.
That defensive strategy forced the Hawks to move outside, where they hit five treys on the night.
“We knew it from last year,” Anchorpoint coach K.C. Adams said of Olson. “He can almost dunk on everybody … We just didn’t play to our potential. We just finished football. I told the kids, ‘Give it a month and we’ll be all right.'”
Adams said the difference Tuesday was size and experience, and not having a gymnasium puts a damper on trying to mimic gametime situations.
“They moved the ball and we turned it over at some bad times,” Adams said. “We’re trying. We’re getting there. We’re not bad for a second-year program.”
Anchorpoint committed 24 turnovers – 12 in each half – leading to a deficit that grew greater by the quarter.
After the Hawks started the game 0 of 3 from the field, they turned it on by going on a 12-2 run midway through the first, and took a 17-12 first-quarter lead.
Trailing 32-25 at the half, the Warriors could not string enough points together. Anzar, meanwhile, went on a 10-0 run in the fourth quarter to put the game out of reach.
“We drove the ball more and it seemed to open it up a little more once we started drawing defenders,” Cecena said.
Anzar (2-0) will play Friday at 7 p.m., at Pajaro Valley.
Team 1 2 3 4 F
Anzar 17 15 12 17 61
Anchor 12 13 8 16 49
Anzar – Olson 7-10 5-8 19, Waller 2-7 0-0 5, Mockabee 5-15 0-0 12, Indarose 4-10 1-3 10, Rania 4-7 2-4 11, Martinez 2-4 0-0 4.
Three-point goals – Mockabee 2, Waller 1, Indarose 1, Rania 1.
Girls Basketball
Anzar 21, Everett Alvarez 72
San Juan Bautista
While it may have been the first game for rookie coach Aaron Netzel, it was also the first high school basketball game for six of the nine players on the Anzar girls basketball team.
On Tuesday, Anzar lost to Everett Alvarez convincingly 72-21.
“We’re a young team. You don’t really know what you’re capable of until you get out there,” Netzel said. “In a nutshell, we were kind of wide-eyed and taking it all in.”
After losing five seniors to graduation last season, Netzel, formerly a coach in Aromas, entered this year with six freshmen on his varsity roster.
Said the coach, “Obviously, we have nowhere to go but up.”
Point guard Alyssa Rodriguez had 14 of Anzar’s 21 points on the night, and added five steals and a pair of blocks. Guard Emily Anderson contributed the remaining seven points and had five rebounds and a steal. Center Kristina Pavese contributed with seven rebounds and a block as well.
Anzar did most of their scoring in the second quarter. After Alvarez began with a 15-0 run, the Hawks came in at halftime trailing 32-17.
“I don’t think it hurts us at all to play a higher division or teams who are better than us,” Netzel said of Alvarez, a Salinas team from the Tri-County Athletic League. “It’s good for them.”
Anzar’s (0-1) game on Thursday against Gonzales has been canceled, and the Hawks will play on Monday at 6:30 p.m., when they’ll host Monterey.
Although Thursday’s game was not rescheduled, the Hawks are slated to play at Gonzales on Dec. 6.
