Women’s varsity
The Winters High School Warriors took to the court last week for more league competition starting with the women’s varsity team on Monday, Jan. 23.
The squad traveled up to Colusa High School to take on the RedHawks, but were met with stiff competition that put up a 42–23 victory over the Warriors.
On Wednesday, Jan. 25, the Warriors hosted Willows High School, where they bounced back to the winning side of things and pluck the Honkers 43–24.
On Friday, Jan. 27, the squad headed up to Live Oak High School to tangle with the Lions in a thrilling game that went into overtime — due much in part to a controversial three-pointer made by the home team. Regardless, the Warriors would come out of the scrap victorious and with a 53–45 win on their record.
“Last week was good. We beat Willows at home and it was a really good team game, although Reese Barbosa had her best game of the season on offense and defense. It was nice seeing her put some things together,” said head coach Jeff Christian. “We also had a really exciting game against Live Oak. The game went into overtime thanks to a controversial, last-second three by them. But the girls did great, brought some great energy, played good team basketball and it was good to see them work through some adversity and come together as a team. It was fun watching the competitive spirit come out of Emily and Jordan. You can see the light go on for them in that game. Hopefully, we can carry that forward with a big week next week.”
Men’s varsity
Meanwhile, the men’s varsity team had a difficult week contending with tough teams starting with Colusa on Monday, Jan. 23. The visiting RedHawks put the clamps down on the Warriors in the second and fourth quarters holding the team to just seven points and would go on to win 74–42.
Down but not out, the Warriors would travel up to Willows on Wednesday, Jan. 25 to take on the Honkers. A much closer game, but unfortunately, the Warriors couldn’t snag the victory and lost 50–45.
Then came Friday, Jan. 27 — Find a Cure Night. The traditional event raises funds for the Jared Davis Scholarship Foundation. Davis, WHS alumni, died from Aplastic Anemia in August 2006 at the age of 19. The tradition was revived as AJ Pignataro’s Senior Capstone Project and the gam pitted the Warriors up against visiting Live Oak.
The squad started the game off a little slow, but quickly got traction after the first quarter to maintain a lead throughout most of the game. However, the Lions would capitalize on missed shots and turnovers and the lead would shift between teams all the way to the fourth quarter. Down one point with only seconds left in the game, Pignataro drove the length of the court and was able to put up a shot amidst defenders that barely rimmed out. Although it was a tough 55–54 loss, the Warriors played their hearts out in honor of WHS Warrior Jared Davis.
“Wednesday and Friday were similar where we went on good runs and then let turnovers and missed shots stop us from finishing the game with a win,” said head coach Brendan McShea. “We are figuring out how to play a complete game. It would be nice to get wins while we learn those lessons and I give credit to the guys that we are in a position to win in the last few minutes. I am hopeful that in our last few weeks we can make those one or two more plays on offense and defense to get us over the finish line. I also loved the crowd on Friday at the game and am looking forward to getting a similar game atmosphere on Senior Night in a couple of weeks.”
