The Weed Cougars scored 42 points in the second half Wednesday night and rolled to a 68-34 victory over Biggs in a first round Northern Section Division V playoff game in Weed.
Weed’s 20th win of the season advances the No. 2 seeded Cougars into Friday night’s quarterfinal game, which will also be played in Weed, beginning at 7 p.m.
The Cougars will face No. 10 Redding Christian, which knocked off No. 7 Durham, 59-51, Wednesday night at Durham.
Cougar senior Robert Gonzales scored a game-high 24 points against Biggs.
Senior Robert West added 18, including 2 three-pointers.
Weed led 16-12 after one quarter and 26-21 at half time, then outscored Biggs 20-11 in the third quarter and 22-2 in the final period.
The lopsided final score was indicative of the two teams’ records this season. Shasta Cascade League co-champion Weed is 20-6; Biggs, the No. 15 seed in a 16-team playoff bracket, finished 10-17.
Seniors Tanner Shelton and Carlos Nava and junior Jake West scored 6 points each for the Cougars. Junior Dillon Wilson scored 3, junior Zachary Van Keuren 2, sophomore Caleb Goltz 2 and junior Liam Hagarty 1.
The Cougars were one of four Shasta Cascade League teams to win playoff openers Wednesday night. Fall River and Trinity both won in Division V and will now face each other Friday night in Weaverville.
Mount Shasta advanced in Division IV with a win over Anderson.
A fifth SCL team to make the playoffs, Etna, lost at Tulelake.
In other Division V quarterfinal games, No 1 Hamilton will host No. 9 East Nicolaus and No. 3 Liberty Christian will host No. 6 Tulelake.
Earlier in the week, Weed coach Mike Carpine said his team would face as difficult a game as anybody in the second round of the playoffs, whether the opponent was Durham or Redding Christian.
The Cougars defeated Redding Christian in early December, 55-48, in a game that saw the Lions get half their points from leading scorer Andrew Baxter, a 6-foot-5 senior center. Baxter has averaged more than 21 points per game this season.
On its way to winning 9 of its last 10 games and tying for first place in the Tri Cities League, Redding Christian twice defeated University Prep, a team the Cougars lost to in double overtime in late January.
The winner of Friday night’s game in Weed will advance to the Division V semifinals next Wednesday, March 3, against either Tulelake or Liberty Christian. The Cougars would host that game also if they beat Redding Christian.
Carpine said the Cougars’ No. 2 seed is the best they’ve ever had in Division V, and their SCL championship is the school’s first in 21 years.
“It’s a great accomplishment,” he said after the playoff seedings were announced. “It really feels good and the spirit at the school is good.”
Three players from the Weed JV team moved up to join the varsity for the postseason, sophomores Goltz and Tyler Fulcher and freshman Noah Traylor.
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The Weed Cougars scored 42 points in the second half Wednesday night and rolled to a 68-34 victory over Biggs in a first round Northern Section Division V playoff game in Weed.
Weed’s 20th win of the season advances the No. 2 seeded Cougars into Friday night’s quarterfinal game, which will also be played in Weed, beginning at 7 p.m.
The Cougars will face No. 10 Redding Christian, which knocked off No. 7 Durham, 59-51, Wednesday night at Durham.
Cougar senior Robert Gonzales scored a game-high 24 points against Biggs.
Senior Robert West added 18, including 2 three-pointers.
Weed led 16-12 after one quarter and 26-21 at half time, then outscored Biggs 20-11 in the third quarter and 22-2 in the final period.
The lopsided final score was indicative of the two teams’ records this season. Shasta Cascade League co-champion Weed is 20-6; Biggs, the No. 15 seed in a 16-team playoff bracket, finished 10-17.
Seniors Tanner Shelton and Carlos Nava and junior Jake West scored 6 points each for the Cougars. Junior Dillon Wilson scored 3, junior Zachary Van Keuren 2, sophomore Caleb Goltz 2 and junior Liam Hagarty 1.
The Cougars were one of four Shasta Cascade League teams to win playoff openers Wednesday night. Fall River and Trinity both won in Division V and will now face each other Friday night in Weaverville.
Mount Shasta advanced in Division IV with a win over Anderson.
A fifth SCL team to make the playoffs, Etna, lost at Tulelake.
In other Division V quarterfinal games, No 1 Hamilton will host No. 9 East Nicolaus and No. 3 Liberty Christian will host No. 6 Tulelake.
Earlier in the week, Weed coach Mike Carpine said his team would face as difficult a game as anybody in the second round of the playoffs, whether the opponent was Durham or Redding Christian.
The Cougars defeated Redding Christian in early December, 55-48, in a game that saw the Lions get half their points from leading scorer Andrew Baxter, a 6-foot-5 senior center. Baxter has averaged more than 21 points per game this season.
On its way to winning 9 of its last 10 games and tying for first place in the Tri Cities League, Redding Christian twice defeated University Prep, a team the Cougars lost to in double overtime in late January.
The winner of Friday night’s game in Weed will advance to the Division V semifinals next Wednesday, March 3, against either Tulelake or Liberty Christian. The Cougars would host that game also if they beat Redding Christian.
Carpine said the Cougars’ No. 2 seed is the best they’ve ever had in Division V, and their SCL championship is the school’s first in 21 years.
“It’s a great accomplishment,” he said after the playoff seedings were announced. “It really feels good and the spirit at the school is good.”
Three players from the Weed JV team moved up to join the varsity for the postseason, sophomores Goltz and Tyler Fulcher and freshman Noah Traylor.
