Kevin Lusterio and Manny Rodriguez were ridiculously dominant for the Carpinteria boys basketball team Tuesday at the Valley Christian Tournament, as the Warriors picked up a 76-51 win over Chinese Christian and 69-45 victory over Santa Ynez.
So dominant, in fact, that coach John Ward had to resort to numbers to explain it.
He is, after all, a math teacher.Ward uses a give-and-take points formula for his players’ performances in each game that goes like this: take a shot (-1), make a shot (+3), take a free throw (-1), make a free throw (+2), grab a rebound (+2), get a steal (+2), commit a foul (-1), dish out an assist (+3), commit a turnover (-2), take a charge (+4), block a shot that leads to a turnover (+2).
Lusterio scored a 63 against Chinese Christian, which is the highest total every tallied by a point guard in Ward’s 28 years of coaching. He had a double-double at halftime with 14 points and 10 assists, finishing with 26 points, 12 assists, five steals and four rebounds with only one turnover.
And let’s not forget about the big man, Rodriguez, who had 29 points and eight rebounds in the easy win.
Just a couple of hours after beating the Rams, Carp moved on to a tough Santa Ynez team which had Ward a little nervous.
But the Warriors jumped on the Pirates early and never let up.
Rodriguez had a monster 28 points and 19 rebounds to go along with five assists, and Lusterio added 21 points, seven assists, five steals and five rebounds.
While the tandem is handling much of the statistical load, Ward said his team is 9-3 thanks to a well-rounded effort.
“I know only two guys are really scoring, but we’re playing good team basketball right now. We had 17 assists in the first game and 18 in the other,” he said.
Justin Alvarado has steadily shaken off the football bug and is rounding into hoops form nicely, according to the coach, and is a big part of the offense.
The wins set up a showdown with Tri-Valley League powerhouse Oaks Christian on Tuesday, and Carpinteria will get to see what the best in the conference looks like.
“We’re just going to keep doing what we’re doing and see where it falls,” said Ward, suddenly showing his simple, math-free side.
CARPINTERIA 76, CHINESE CHRISTIAN 51
CC — Boe 8, Kwon 2, Lam 10, Eng 2, Kwan 12, Fortune-Solomon 17. Totals 20 5-8 51.
C — Saito 6, Alvarado 7, Kono 3, Madden 3, Lusterio 26, Bustillos 2, Rodriguez 29. Totals 30 10-15 76.
CC….10 15 12 14 — 51
C…….19 20 18 19 — 76
3-point goals — CC 6 (Sol 3, Kwan 2, Boe 1), C 6 (Lusterio 3, Saito 2, Kono 1).
Total fouls — CC 14, C 11.
Fouled out — Lam.
CARPINTERIA 69, SANTA YNEZ 45
SY — Peters 12, Whitmore 4, Becker 12, Reck 5, MacIntyre 2, Garley 6, Henno 4. Totals 20 4-4 45.
C — Saito 7, Alvarado 5, Craddock 1, Kono 3, Madden 4, Lusterio 21, Hernandez 28. Totals 28 8-14 59.
SY……11 14 14 6 — 45
C…….21 15 16 17 — 69.
3-point goals—SY 1 (Reck), C 5 (Lusterio 3, Kono, Saito)
Total fouls —SY 16, C 12.
Fouled out — Henno.
Team record—C 9-3.
