Falcons dominate third quarter to defeat Pintos

Blair Oaks and California warm up before their contest Feb. 12, 2019 in Wardsville.
Blair Oaks and California warm up before their contest Feb. 12, 2019 in Wardsville.

WARDSVILLE, Mo. - California started it. Blair Oaks finished it.

After trailing by as many as nine points in the first quarter, the Falcons took a slight lead into halftime and created havoc defensively right out of the gate in the second half to sprint to an 88-58 victory against the Pintos on Tuesday night.

Blair Oaks scored the final points of the first half to lead 41-39 and started the second half on a 13-2 run in just a three-minute span. Six of those points came off of turnovers, including a Nolan Hair steal that led to a layup for Dru Rackers for a 52-41 lead.

"I thought maybe we amped up the energy a little bit," Blair Oaks coach Ryan Fick said. "We got some more deflections and we were getting points off of those turnovers.

"I thought Nolan Hair did a really good job of getting out in the passing lanes. They were running their sideline break pretty effectively in the first half. I thought in the second half we did a better job of not letting them pass the ball freely up the sideline."

Another steal by the Falcons followed and Braydan Pritchett turned that into a pair of free throws with 5:04 left in the third quarter.

The lead reached 58-44 when the Falcons beat the Pintos' press and Corban Bonnett tossed it up to Eric Northweather for an easy layup.

Rackers got the lead to 20 (66-46) with two free throws, and Trent Martin and Hair each made a 3-pointer in the final minute of the third quarter for a 72-46 advantage. Blair Oaks outscored California 31-7 in the quarter, including an 18-2 run in the last 4:30.

The Pintos had a similar run to close out the first quarter, outscoring the Falcons 22-4 in the last five minutes of the opening quarter to lead 26-17.

"We talked about a few things that we needed to do better, but I give California a lot of credit," Fick said of halftime. "They played really, really well in the first half. I don't necessarily think we were playing bad, they just played really well. They made some difficult shots early on."

Blair Oaks began the game on a 13-4 run, including nine points from Martin. He made two of his six 3-pointers in the first three minutes of the game.

"We were making the extra pass and we were finding him," Fick said. "That's what he's capable of."

Martin scored a game-high 28 points, Northweather added 19 points and Rackers had a double-double with 18 points and 10 rebounds.

Pritchett, Webb Villmer, Martin, Rackers, Hair, Bonnett and Cameron Hardwick were honored prior to the game for Senior Night.

"The seniors right now are starting to play with a sense of urgency," Fick said. "You expect that from them at the end of the season. The end is in sight for them, so they are really cherishing each game."

Isaac Ash led California (14-9, 4-2 Tri-County Conference) with 14 points, including a buzzer-beating 3-pointer to close out the first quarter. Trystan Hees had 11 points and eight rebounds.

"He's so strong," Fick said of Hees, a 6-foot-2 forward. "That was the issue with us was being able to guard him. We tried not letting him catch the ball. They passed the ball well and found him and our weak side help was lacking at times and he went up and finished."

Blair Oaks (19-5, 6-0 Tri-County) has won 13 straight and clinched at least a share of the Tri-County Conference title with Tuesday's win.

The Falcons will try to lock it up tonight at School of the Osage, a game that was moved up from Friday because snow is in the forecast.

Blair Oaks won Tuesday's JV game 73-46 to improve to 19-1. Quinn Kusgen scored 21 points, Luke Northweather finished with 17, and Tristan Heislen added 13.

The Blair Oaks freshman team improved to 14-7 with a 71-48 victory. Brayden Lehmen scored 19 points, Gavin Brandes had 17, Konnor Morriss added 12 and Zach Herigon tallied 11.