The California Pintos remember how the Missouri National Guard Shootout ended for them a year ago. They'd like to settle the score.
"I haven't forgot what that felt like last year," California coach Blair Scanlon said, alluding to his team's 56-53 loss to Hermann after blowing an 11-point fourth-quarter advantage. "We controlled the game for about three quarters. We just had a bad four- or five-minute stretch where we couldn't buy anything or get any buckets. I don't think our guys have forgot about that.
"We had some brutal Christmas practices, and it wasn't very much fun. It kind of ruined our Christmas. Our guys definitely haven't forgotten about it, and I for sure haven't forgotten about it. It's not revenge, but it's definitely in the back of my mind. We're looking forward to getting back at them."
California (4-2) gets a chance to avenge that loss when it takes on Hermann (2-3) at 5:30 p.m. today at Fleming Fieldhouse.
"We're looking forward to playing and trying to have a better outcome than last year," Scanlon said.
It's the third straight season playing in the Shootout for California, which owns a buzzer-beating victory against Moberly two years ago. The Pintos will be looking to move above .500 in the event in the final game of the day.
It's taken California a little while to find its legs, but the Pintos have responded to early-season challenges.
"We kind of had to play the waiting game," Scanlon said. "We had 12 guys in football practice, varsity and JV, those first few weeks of practice. They missed three weeks of basketball, skill set and all that fundamental work they need to do. We had to kind of play catch-up.
"We've gotten our legs back and gotten back to where we should be the last few weeks of practice. We won't be hitting our stride until about mid-January."
While that may be the case, Scanlon likes the makeup of his team.
"We have six seniors playing this year," he said. "We have a veteran group. They've been through the wars, they've been through the environments. Not much should bother them.
"We have pretty good balance. We're not a team that's going to have one guy that's going to get 20 a night. We have three or four pretty good players, and our role guys are pretty good too. Our scoring column is going to be more like 14, 12, 10, eight. Pretty balanced inside and outside."
Jaden Barr, a returning all-conference and all-district pick, headlines the group. Dylan Albertson, who missed most of last season with a wrist injury, and Jerry Lutz, sidelined all of last season, are back as seniors. Albertson scored 19 points against Hermann last season, his final game of the year.
"Not a lot of people don't know about Dylan and Jerry," Scanlon said. "They're two pretty good players."
Other names in the mix include Austin Gump, Cole George, Conner George, Burke Brant and Damon Shaw.
Hermann returns nine players from last year's squad, including Shootout game MVP Mat Hug and Craig Winkelmann. Both players scored 22 points in the win last season.