The Lyford Bulldogs came out aggressive and were able to grab a few easy baskets early on, but the Warriors press defense and up-tempo offense paved the way for a 75-44 win and a 2-0 start to District 32-3A play Tuesday night in Lyford.
Lyford (7-14, 1-1) was able to get by the Warriors’ press early in the first quarter, which led to a couple of quick baskets underneath by Brandon Castro.
After a third score by Castro, the score stood at 8-8 for a moment, but a Warriors timeout led to them ending the first period on a 16-0 run.
For Warriors’ head coach Johnny Cipriano, the slow start was not what he envisioned coming into district play, but he does believe his team has the ability to cruise through the district the way they did Tuesday night.
“I just told the guys to play good defense and execute on offense. We played a tough schedule for the reason that we wanted to come into district and pretty much roll,” Cipriano said.
“I wish we were clicking more than they are. Some say the guys are still young, but it’s been more than half the season. We’re not young anymore and we need to grow up.”
Following the run, the Warriors were in control the rest of the way, getting down the floor in a hurry as they pressed the Bulldogs and forced them into turnovers.
Lyford tried to get out in front running, but struggled to get past the Warriors (15-,2-0), who chased down loose balls all night.
“Santa Rosa is a good team, they’re going to go all the way to the floor and play full court. I thought our guys had a lot of composure when they started the game, but there was some over confidence on our part that led us to believe we can turn around and run,” Lyford head coach Pete Torres said. “That led to a lot of easy baskets for them. Hats off to them; they took advantage of it.”
Santa Rosa used big runs all night to keep Lyford from gaining any offensive momentum and went into the half up 41-22, led by 24 combined points from Matt Garcia and Leo Lara in the first half.
The Bulldogs did slow the Warriors a bit in the third quarter and held them to their lowest scoring quarter of the night, allowing just 12 points.
Lyford continued to shoot the ball in the fourth and launched an 8-1 run to get the score down to 18 points after trailing by as many as 27 in the third.
Unfortunately for Lyford, Santa Rosa delivered its last haymaker in the form of a 16-0 run, sparked by freshman A.B. Losoya’s seven points in that span.
Santa Rosa led 71-39 after that.
“He’s a little shy on offense and I don’t know why, because he can play,” Cipriano said of Losoya. “I tell him to shoot while open and to pass when he’s not; it’s that simple.”
Lara led the Warriors with 24 points and Losoya added 15.
For Lyford, Christian Trevino led with 15 points off the bench.