Carpinteria recovered from a slow start and sent its seniors out on a winning note, beating Santa Paula 56-46 on Wednesday in a Frontier League boys basketball game.
It was the last regular season home game for the Warriors.
Omar Miranda scored 18 points and Rayshaun Moore and Mason Picerni added 11 and 10 points, respectively, as the Warriors improved to 7-1 in league play and 16-7 overall.
Carpinteria trailed by double digits in the first quarter as Isaac Ramirez went off for 14 points in the opening stanza for Santa Paula.
“From the that point, he only scored 6 points for the rest of the game,” Carpinteria coach Johnny Ward said. “We switched our defense to deny him the ball at all times and it took them out of their rhythm offensively.”
The Warriors cut Santa Paula’s lead to one point just before halftime.
In the second half, Moore and Miranda continued to rotate on Ramirez to keep fresh legs guarding him.
Miranda again continued to push the tempo and run the offense for the Warriors. Mason Picerni scored 8 of his 10 points in the second half and “did a great job defensively, disrupting Santa Paula’s shots as well as rebounding and scoring,” said Ward.
Noah Reed hit a big three pointer to put Carpinteria ahead by double digits. The lead got as high as 15 points.
“It was great to send the seniors out with a win in their last league match, but we are hoping that our record and strong league finish will allow us a playoff game at home,” said Ward.
Next up for Carpinteria is Grace Brethren on the road followed by the league finale at Nordhoff next Wednesday.
Said Ward “We are hoping to head to Ojai for that game with a league record of 8-1 and a chance to compete for a co-league championship. But we are not looking to that point yet as our entire focus is on an improving Grace Brethren team.”
