Carpinteria’s inside-outside punch of Manny Rodriguez and Kevin Lusterio was too much for Bishop Diego to handle Wednesday night as the tandem combined for 45 points to power the Warriors to a 61-49 nonleague boys basketball victory over their crosstown rivals at the Cardinals’ Brickhouse.
Rodriguez time and again delivered big blows to Bishop’s defense in the key. He scored a game-high 24 points and grabbed 14 rebounds. Lusterio, meanwhile, directed the Warriors’ offense with poise and headiness. He finished with 21 points, including two 3-pointers, and made 11-of-13 free throws.
“They run their stuff, and we can learn a lot from those two kids,” Bishop coach Ray Vazquez said. “Those two kids killed us for 45 points. The point guard is really steady. He doesn’t hurt you, he doesn’t make bad decisions, and he knows when to get rid of the ball.
“The kid inside is special,” he continued. “I don’t care who guarded. We threw three people at him — 6-7, 6-6, 6-2, big kids — and he had an answer.”
Rodriguez beat the Cardinals for a rebound after a missed Carpinteria free throw and scored to put the Warriors ahead 41-30 at the end of the third quarter.
Lusterio and Rodriguez combined for three points on free throws at the start of the fourth quarter and Lusterio fed Isacc Cervantes for a layup to pad the advantage to 46-32.
“I’m biased, obviously, but he’s the best point guard around right now,” Carpinteria coach John Ward said of Lusterio, who also had eight rebounds. “He’s doing an outstanding job at point guard. He controls the flow of the game, he controls what we do, handles the ball well and makes good decisions. He’s a heck of a player.”
Ward said Lusterio’s accuracy at the free-throw line is all about dedication.
“He takes pride in that,” the coach said.
On Rodriguez, Ward said his center “was good (against Bishop), but he can be more assertive.”
Bishop played with more assertiveness on offense in the second half Wednesday. Rather than firing off shots from the perimeter, the Cardinals attacked the basket.
Freshman Elias Munoz was especially effective slashing through the Carpinteria defense to score baskets inside or draw fouls and get to the free-throw line. He finished with a team-high 10 points.
“The foul difference was pretty dramatic early,” Vazquez explained. “It wasn’t the referees’ issue, it was our issue to continue to penetrate and not rely on so many shots. So we were hoping if we could hit some free throws, we could quell their momentum. We did OK. We were 14 of 20. In the second half, we were more aggressive.”
The Cardinals couldn’t have been blown out early as they struggled to hang on to the basketball against Carpinteria’s tight man-to-man defense. But they hung in there and tied the score at 9-9 on a reverse layup by Art Gonzalez.
Lusterio answered with a 3-pointer that gave the Warriors the lead for good.
Carpinteria improves to 11-4 as it heads into its Tri-Valley League opener at perennial powerhouse Santa Clara on Friday.
Bishop Diego (5-9) plays at St. Monica in a nonleague game on Saturday.
CARPINTERIA 61, BISHOP DIEGO 49
CARPINTERIA — Saito 2, Alvarado 2, Kono 2, Lusterio 21, Cervantes 10, Rodriguez 24.
BISHOP DIEGO — Nevarez 3, Slaught 9, Garcia 8, Kwock 5, A. Gonzalez 6, B. Gonzalez 1, Munoz 10, Tack 4, Kohler 1.
Carpinteria…12 16 13 20 — 61
Bishop Diego…0 12 9 19 — 49
3-point goals—C 2 (Lusterio 2), BD 3 (Kwock, Nevarez Slaught). Total fouls—C 20, B 23. Records—C 11-4, B 5-9.
(Photos by John Dvorak/PresidioPics. To order prints, email [email protected])
