Santa Cruz Warriors Charge Past Canton in Close Contest

Santa Cruz Warriors move to 8-4 after win over Canton Charge.

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The Santa Cruz Warriors were able to successfully defend Kaiser Permanente Arena on Tuesday night, coming out with the 108-101 victory over the Canton Charge.

Every Santa Cruz starter scored in double-digits on Tuesday, led by none other than Elliot Williams, who had 29 points to go with his nine assists on 10-for-20 shooting, 2-for-4 from behind the arc. Darington Hobson recorded a double-double with 18 points and 10 rebounds, along with Ronnie Brewer, who had 18 points and 12 rebounds. Verdell Jones III tallied 14 points, and Daniel Orton scored 12 points.

Nick Minnerath was the scoring leader for the Charge with 21 points, adding in 10 rebounds on the night for a double-double. Jorge Gutierrez had 19 points, and Joe Harris, on assignment from the Cleveland Cavaliers, had 15 points for Canton.

The game opened with an extremely close first quarter, concluding with the Warriors down a point to the Charge. The Charge had put together a 16-6 run by the middle of the opening segment, which was then nullified by a 15-6 run by the Warriors to end the first. The story remained the same in the second quarter as Canton’s 8-0 run near the end the first half was followed by 6-0 run by the Warriors, resulting in Santa Cruz being down one going into halftime.

The third quarter saw the Warriors take the lead, putting together a 21-4 run. Locking down defensively, Santa Cruz was able to get a number of easy baskets in transition, and the team’s ball movement benefited from their execution on both ends:

Canton overcame the deficit in the fourth quarter, resulting in four lead changes and six ties. Initially, it seemed like Canton couldn’t miss as they continued to catch the Warriors defense off guard after every single time Santa Cruz put themselves in the best position to pull away. The two teams traded baskets for much of the quarter, that is, until Santa Cruz was able to put on a late-quarter run to close out the game in the most Warriors way possible: with a barrage of jump shots.

Warriors had three timely three-pointers in the fourth quarter, including two cold-blooded threes from Hobson to help push Santa Cruz over the hump. It was his dagger triple at the 40-second mark that had every fan in KP Arena bursting out of their seats. Jones scored the other three in the right corner off an assist from Hobson.

Head coach Casey Hill raved about the team’s ball movement against Canton, saying much of it was a result of their improving defensive intensity.

“A lot of [the ball movment] came because we were getting stops and pushing up in transition; a lot of those assists came in that fashion,” said Hill.

The Santa Cruz Warriors now prepare to once again welcome the Bakersfield Jam to Kaiser Permanente Arena on Friday night. Santa Cruz shares a 1-1 season series split with Bakersfield, which they hope to skew in their favor come this weekend.

If you missed the Warriors’ win over the Canton Charge, you can watch the video here: