KINGSVILLE — 28, 31, 21 and 15. No, those aren’t yesterday’s winning lottery numbers, but they are the amount of points the Santa Rosa Warriors scored by quarter as they dismantled the Bishop Badgers 95-58 in Tuesday night’s Class 3A bi-district game at Texas A&M University-Kingsville.
The win was the Warriors’ 18th consecutive victory and they now move on to the area round where they will face Dilley, who defeated Goliad 58-50.
“I think we played all right for the most part,” said Santa Rosa head coach Johnny Cipriano. “Unlike some of the things that went on, at least we have a chance to correct them before the next game.”
The Warriors began the game by flexing some muscle and delivering a dazzling offensive showing from beyond the arc as Santa Rosa hit six three pointers in the first quarter alone. The Warriors finished the game with a total of 19 threes on the night.
Leo Lara led the scoring with a game-high 31 points and five three pointers, Jonah Agedo added another 20 points (6 three pointers), Monico Prado had 17 points (3 three pointers) and AB Lozoya contributed 13 (3 three pointers) on the night.
Despite being up by as many as 40 points at times, the Warriors were relentless on the floor and scrabbled for every loose ball.
And Cipriano’s explanation for his team’s hard-playing style was simple: “Every loose ball matters, especially now. It’s playoff time and I tell them every rebound needs to be ours and every loose ball needs to be ours. And if I don’t see them getting after it, then there is going to be consequences. They know that every possession matters that’s why they get after it.”
Three pointers from Lara and Prado quickly gave the Warriors an 8-2 lead to start the game. Prado went on to score 10 of the next 18 points for Santa Rosa as the Warriors quickly built a 28-11 lead to end the first period.
In the second period, Lara took over and delivered a 15-point offense barrage to give the Warriors a 33-point lead at the half.
After the break, Bailey Gattis and Dylan Trevino gave the Badgers something to cheer about, however it was too late as the Warriors stretched the lead to 40 points and ended the third at 80-44.
Bishop’s Gattis led the team with 20 points and Jason Colunga added another 15.
