It didn’t take long for Manny Rodriguez to have a monster game.
The 6-4 Carpinteria star dropped 34 points and snatched 19 rebounds on Tuesday as the host Warriors won the “Battle of Carpinteria” over Cate, 68-44, in their season opener.
Rodriguez had 20 points and nine rebounds at the half.
“He was pretty active, which I’ve been asking him to do,” said Warriors coach John Ward. “He’s a very good player. He was dominant.”
Ward said that much of the credit goes to his son, assistant coach Johnny Ward, who runs the team’s conditioning program.
Being a math teacher, Ward has a formula which factors in numerous different statistics to determine a player’s performance. Rodriguez was a plus-69, which Ward says is one of the top 20 scores he’s had in 20 years of using the system.
Point guard Kevin Lusterio was pretty darn impressive himself, scoring 15 points to go along with nine assists and six steals.
While it’s clear that the Warriors have themselves a dynamic duo, Ward said that it is crucial that the rest of the players carry their own weight, particularly in a tough Tri-Valley League.
“If things fall the right way, I think we could challenge for the league title,” he said. “But if we become too dependent on Manny and Kevin it’s going to be a long season.”
Junior Daniel Babineaux had a solid game in his varsity debut with eight points, and Ward also highlighted the play of Jovan Saenz off the bench.
Ugo Nwasike led Cate with 12 points.
The Warriors open up the Fillmore Tournament against L.A. Baptist on Thursday.
CARPINTERIA 68, CATE 44
CATE — Young 3, Person 2, Bradley 10, Engs 10, Mullan 7, Nwasike 12. Totals 15 10-17 44.
CARPINTERIA — Chavez 3, Babineaux 8, Lusterio 15, Bustillos 2, Saenz 6, Manny 34. Totals 27 13-24 68.
Cate…10 15 9 10 — 44
Carpinteria….22 13 24 9 — 68
3-point goals — Cate 4 (Mullan 2, Bradley 2). Carp 1 (Lusterio). Total fouls — Cate 17, Carp 18. Fouled out — Silva.
