Anzar’s Scott Benson goes 10-for-11 from the field as the Hawks
beat Cypress Grove, 68-47
San Juan Bautista – Anzar boys’ basketball coach Ed Cecena knows he’s going to have to schedule some tougher competition for his team next preseason.
After winning just one game in all of the 2003-04 campaign, the Hawks started this year out with some competition that they felt would give them a challenge but also bring some confidence to the team.
And after a 59-29 win over Pacific Collegiate, followed up by a 68-47 drubbing of Cypress Grove on Monday at home, one thing is becoming pretty clear: The Hawks can play.
Granted, the competition is going to get a whole lot tougher when as the team begins league play on January 6 versus Gonzalez, but the Hawks are looking like a team that means to give anyone they match up against a worthy challenge.
Monday evening’s game was all Anzar from the opening tip. After being tied 2-2 in the first minute, the Hawks went on an 8-2 run, sparked by some big drives to the basket from Nick Romero, and never looked back.
“We played well,” Cacena said. “We attacked their trap the right way. We got the ball in the middle and just went from there.”
The Hawks themselves did a nice job of trapping on defense as the pressure put on Cypress Grove’s guards as they tried to get the offense set up resulted in numerous turnovers.
Anzar’s defense did such a good job on Cypress Grove early on that through the first six minutes of play, Kerry Woodward was responsible for all six of their points.
Cypress Grove got things a little more straightened out in the final two minutes of the opening quarter to end the first down only five points with the sore at 17-12.
The visiting team started the second quarter shooting the ball well and, within the first three minutes of the new quarter, had managed to pull withing three thanks to some pressure defense that resulted in a few Anzar turnovers.
But that was as close as Cypress Grove would get to the lead all game.
Anzar’s Sam Stewart put a stop to the momentum that was being built by Cypress Grove with a nice drive to the basket and the finish to put his team back up by five. After a defensive stop on the other end, Romero maneuvered his way into the paint for another Anzar score, followed by two points from Scott Benson after he grabbed an offensive board the Hawks’ next trip down the floor.
The game’s pace got frantic from there as the Hawks seemed to find a way to force Cypress into either a turnover or making a bad shot on nearly every possession for a good stretch of the second.
Benson scored again on a strong drive to the basket right before Romero stole the ball away from a Cypress Grove guard, pushed it up the floor and dished it off to Stewart for an easy bucket.
Stewart, who nailed his first four shots of the game, scored again moments later to put the Hawks up 34-20.
Cypress Grove called a timeout after Stewart’s easy score but the Hawks didn’t miss a beat. Romero scored on a crafty reverse right after the timeout, followed by yet another turnover from the visiting team, which Anzar cashed in on when Adrian Monroy turned a drive into the paint into a three-point play, putting the Hawks up 39-20.
It was more of the same in the second half as Anzar continued to make things happen with sound ball movement and good shot selection. And speaking of good shot selection, Benson finished the game with 24 points on 10-for-11 shooting from the field and a four-for-six performance from the free-throw line
The Hawks are back in action this Thursday when they hit the road to take on Thomas More.
