Starting the season off well is always what coach Michael Fenison and the Warriors want to do. The men’s basketball team won the Paul Landreaux Classic at home, and again on Friday night against West Los Angeles College.
After winning their home tournament, guard Joshua Wilson was named to the All-Tournament Team and forward Cameron Gray received MVP honors.
“It’s just another trophy, but honestly, I’m trying to do whatever it takes for us to win,” Gray said.
The Warriors’ offense was solid, averaging more than 86 points per game and more than 17 assists per game.
“When your team is playing unselfishly and passing the ball like we did, it creates opportunities for people and it gives us an advantage,” Fenison said. “Most of the professional teams shoot for about 19 assists per game and we’re pretty close to that mark.”
After tying the first game against West L.A. at 18-18, the Warriors began to score and never looked back, going up as much as 10 points in the half.
With the strong guard play of Wilson, who had 12 points, and Jamar Canon having four 3-pointers for 12 points, the Warriors had a three point lead going into half time 44-41.
“I made some threes, but I also didn’t shoot the ball as well I could have,” Cannon said
The Warriors were hot going into the third quarter, keeping a big gap between them and Wildcats. The Wildcats came back to make it close, but it wasn’t enough for a win.
Wilson ended up with 28 points and Gray with 23 points and 12 rebounds. Cannon had 18 points with 6 3-pointers and center Sean Ray had 11 rebounds.
“I had a little guards on me all night so I just tried to take advantage of it and it worked out,” Wilson said.
The second and final games of the tournament were against Pierce College. The game started off well and guard David Howard started off hot with the first seven points of the game.
Then at 7-4, Pierce missed the shot, giving Gray a fast break and a hard dunk.
From there, the Warriors didn’t look back, going up 31-22 at the half.
“I played good defense and I just attacked the basket,” Howard said. “I just did what was needed.”
Pierce College went on a run of its own going into the second half when coach Fenison called a time out.
After that, the Warriors woke up and created as much as an 11 point lead. Then, with one minute left, Pierce was back in the ball game with only a 6 point deficit, but it wasn’t enough for a comeback and the Warriors won 73-65.
Gray and Canon had 14 points a piece and Wilson had 11.
“Our defense was a lot better in this game than it was last game, but we got out rebounded 43-29,” Fension said, “We need to get better at rebounding, but we did get the win.”
The last game of the week was against West L.A again, but this time the Warriors didn’t let them score.
The Warriors came out cold in the beginning going down as much as seven points. With 50 seconds left, forward Adrian BrayBoy blocked a shot that ended up in the hands of Canon for a 3 pointer going into the half 35-36, the Wildcats with the lead..
Gray got hot in the second half, scoring 25 points hitting four 3 pointers to give the Warriors the win. Howard also chipped in 20 points.
“I just did what my team needed me to do,” Gray said. “I came out aggressive and just tried to play basketball.”
The team is going to take its talents to Grossmont College to try and stay undefeated.
