Ontario boys lose two in Pendleton
Sunday, December 14, 2008 1:08 AM PST
Argus Observer sports staff
Pendleton—The Ontario Tigers boys basketball team (2-3) fell victim to the cold start in both of their games over the weekend in Pendleton as they went 0-2 at the tournament.
On Friday, Pendleton jumped out to an 18-8 start and went on to win 68-52, then on Saturday, Sandpoint, Id., led 21-13 early and went on to defeat the Tigers 70-61.
“We found some things we need to work on,” Ontario head coach Scott Helmick said. “We need to have faster starts, we need to come out of the blocks better.”
In Friday’s game, despite trailing 18-8 after the first quarter and 38-18 at the break, the Tigers did not quit. In fact, they came out in the second half and outscored Pendleton 34-30. Luke Christiani led the Tigers in scoring with 13 points and Tad Anzaldua pitched in with 12.
Saturday’s contest against Sandpoint the Tigers offensive production improved in the first quarter with 13 points, but the defense gave up 21, putting Ontario in a hole. By the break the score was 33- 26 in favor of Sandpoint.
The second half had the two teams exchanging buckets with Sandpoint taking a 37-35 edge and securing the win.
Top scorer for the Tigers was Anzaldua with 29 points as he hit six shots from the field, nailed three treys and was a perfect 8-of-8 from the charity stripe. Kyle Nicholson added 12 to the scoresheet.
“We are improving. We are a better team than what we were when the season started,” Helmick said. “The team is having fun and playing hard.”
Ontario hosts Vale at 7 p.m. Tuesday.
