Defense is name of the game for the Bishop Diego boys basketball team.
The Cardinals shut down another opponent Tuesday at Carpinteria’s Jim Bashore Holiday Cage Classic, throttling Laguna Blanca, 45-19.
“We’re playing pretty good defense right now,” Bishop coach Dean Prophet said. “We concentrate on eliminating the scoring opportunities and touches of our opponents’ main scorer.”
AV Bennett and BJ Murillo shut down Laguna’s Spenser Wyatt, holding him to two points.
Bishop held Laguna to single digits in the first half, taking a 27-7 lead at halftime.
“We really focused on a getting a good start against these guys,” said Prophet.
San Marcos’ Bryce Ridenour drives to the basket while Hueneme’s Josh Munoz defends.
Grant Sexton led the Bishop offense with 12 points, while Will Busch added nine points.
Bishop plays Carpinteria when the tournament resumes on Friday.
SAN MARCOS 86, HUENEME 20
Elijah Johnson poured in 24 points, and the defending tournament champions rolled to their second pool-play win.
“Elijah was really smooth tonight,” San Marcos coach Dave Odell said. “He was 9 of 11 from the floor, including 2 for 3 on 3-pointers.” Johnson also grabbed five rebounds and had five steals in about 13 minutes of action.
The San Marcos starters played 10-12 minutes. Bryce Ridenour scored 12 points in that time. Kele Mkpado added 11 points.
The Royals take a tournament break and play their Channel League opener at Buena on Wednesday.
“We have a league game Wednesday down at Buena tomorrow, so it was nice to get the offense rolling again and not have to play our starters too much,” said Odell.
RIO MESA 52, CARPINTERIA 30
It was a rough night for the Warriors, who fell behind early and never recovered.
“We started the first two minutes strong then our energy disappeared and we lacked intensity on defense,” said Carpinteria coach Johnny Ward. “We rely on tough defense to create offense and tonight we didn’t have it.”
Carpinteria cut a 20-point deficit to eight in the third quarter, but Rio Mesa was able to score easy baskets to build its lead again.
Rayshaun Moore scored 10 points for the Warriors (4-3)
“Ray was one of our few bright spots. He played well on offense and defense, and attacked the basket. Mason Picerni is also playing stronger in extended minutes,” said Ward.
Carpinteria plays Bishop Diego in its next tournament game on Friday.
