The Wolfpack Research Paper
The Santa Clarita Christian Cardinals defended home turf against the Valley Torah Wolfpack in the last game of league play on Thursday night, as Bryce Wilkinson erupted for 30 points, pushing the Cardinals past Valley Torah in their 79-59 victory.
The Wolfpack (17-6-0) had one agenda. Stop Wilkinson from scoring.
The Cardinals (16-4-0) struggled with offense early as the Wolfpack clamped down on their leading scorer, sending a barrage of double teams to hold him to 10 points at half, well below his season average of 24.3 points per game. “It felt like they were trying to prove a point because I was the one to hit the game winning free throw last time we played them, they wanted to lock me down and I wanted to lock them down.” Said Wilkerson …show more content…
“Never eat dinosaur chicken nuggets before a game,” said Wilkerson jokingly, but the Wolfpack remained consistent on offense.
The Wolfpack’s effort gave them the halftime lead of 37-30.
The Cardinals struggled to find momentum throughout the third quarter, until junior guard AJ Caldwell had a monster chase down block on the defensive end.
“That got us hyped. We started stopping them and playing better defense and realized how precious having the ball was.” Said junior guard Jacob Moss
Caldwell also added 19 points, two assists, and four rebounds.
Wilkinson then scored a three at the buzzer to tie the score at 48-48 at the beginning of the fourth quarter. Wilkinson came out aggressive in the fourth quarter, making the double-team seem non-existent. The senior shooting guard scored four consecutive three pointers and notched 17 fourth quarter points, half of the Cardinals’ points in their 31-11 run to victory.
“This is a good game to have heading into the playoffs,” said SCCS head coach James Mosley. “… Nothing is going to be given to us and we need to do the little things to win games.”
The Cardinals will start their playoff run on Thursday to take on Aveson Global Leadership Academy of Altadena at
The Wolfpack (17-6-0) had one agenda. Stop Wilkinson from scoring.
The Cardinals (16-4-0) struggled with offense early as the Wolfpack clamped down on their leading scorer, sending a barrage of double teams to hold him to 10 points at half, well below his season average of 24.3 points per game. “It felt like they were trying to prove a point because I was the one to hit the game winning free throw last time we played them, they wanted to lock me down and I wanted to lock them down.” Said Wilkerson …show more content…
“Never eat dinosaur chicken nuggets before a game,” said Wilkerson jokingly, but the Wolfpack remained consistent on offense.
The Wolfpack’s effort gave them the halftime lead of 37-30.
The Cardinals struggled to find momentum throughout the third quarter, until junior guard AJ Caldwell had a monster chase down block on the defensive end.
“That got us hyped. We started stopping them and playing better defense and realized how precious having the ball was.” Said junior guard Jacob Moss
Caldwell also added 19 points, two assists, and four rebounds.
Wilkinson then scored a three at the buzzer to tie the score at 48-48 at the beginning of the fourth quarter. Wilkinson came out aggressive in the fourth quarter, making the double-team seem non-existent. The senior shooting guard scored four consecutive three pointers and notched 17 fourth quarter points, half of the Cardinals’ points in their 31-11 run to victory.
“This is a good game to have heading into the playoffs,” said SCCS head coach James Mosley. “… Nothing is going to be given to us and we need to do the little things to win games.”
The Cardinals will start their playoff run on Thursday to take on Aveson Global Leadership Academy of Altadena at