HANFORD - In the end, the Hanford West High boys basketball team simply couldn't keep up with the more athletic Gahr-Cerritos on Tuesday in a CIF Southern California Regional Division III playoff game.
But as coach Tim Caudillo looked around his locker room following the 74-54 loss to the Southern Section runner-up Gladiators, he hoped his program had arrived as a force to reach this level for years to come.
And considering Caudillo will only be losing two seniors off a team that won the school's first Central Section title in its nine varsity seasons, he might be on to something.
"This was definitely a learning experience," said Caudillo, whose team's only other SoCal Regional appearance came in 2007. "We're trying to make sure we experience this kind of thing every year."
Hanford West's best moments came in the final 3:17 of the first half.
Trailing by 12 points, the fourth-seeded Huskies (20-12) closed with an 11-2 run capped by Rodney Webster's steal, coast-to-coast layup and foul shot to go into the locker room down 32-29.
"I felt like we were coming back at that point," said Webster, who finished with 21 points.
Webster's basket with 6:47 left in the third quarter tied the score 34-34. But the rest of the second half belonged to No. 6 Gahr (19-15) and sweet-shooting sophomore guard Davon Potts.
Potts answered Webster's basket with a long-range 3-pointer that gave the Gladiators a lead they would not relinquish again.
"We made a good run to come back," Caudillo said. "But we couldn't sustain it in the second half."
Potts hit two more 3-pointers to help Gahr extend the lead to 57-43 at the end of the third quarter. His seventh 3-pointer, which gave the Gladiators a 74-50 lead with 1:40 left in the game, led both teams to empty their benches.
"[Potts] is a good shooter, and you have to know where good shooters are all the time," Webster said. "He made us pay."
Potts finished with a game-high 29 points.
"We just wanted to put this team away," Potts said. "I was feeling it tonight."
Hanford West hurt itself by going 5 of 29 from beyond the arc. And most every time the Huskies took it to the basket, the 6-foot-5 Devin Golston and 6-7 Jarion Henry were waiting to block or alter shots.
"They just had a little too much firepower," Caudillo said. "We didn't do a good job of playing to our strengths in keeping it a halfcourt game."
A few rules are needed to help foster a feeling of community. We encourage a free and open exchange of ideas in a climate of mutual respect, but any post that violates someone's right to use and enjoy fresnobee.com is prohibited. Before you post, please read the terms of use and obey these simple guidelines.
Here are the ground rules:
Contents of this site are © Copyright The Fresno Bee. All rights reserved.
E-Mail
Print
Southern California Regional games from March 10
Boys Basketball Scores
@Nyx.CommentBody@