This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Sports

Warriors Blow Red Claws out of Water, 114-88

Warriors use big first quarter to lead them to win.

When the first All-Star selections were made the Maine Red Claws(19-18) had four players on the Futures roster and the Warriors(20-12) had none. They gave the All-Star loaded Red Claws no dice as they blew them out of the water with a 114-89 win to kick off a eight game home stand. 

The Warriors used an unbelievable first quarter, in which they shot 70 percent from the field and scored 40 points, to jump out to a demanding lead and never look back. 

Travis Lelsie played out of his mind through the first quarter shooting 8-8 from the field for 16 points. He also was aggressive on defense and gathered in two steals. 

Find out what's happening in Santa Cruzwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

"I thought he played great," said Warriors head coach Nate Bjorkgren. "With all that included he did a great job of guarding DaJuan Summers. I keep talking to him about his defense and rebounding, and he had a nice complete game."

Red Claws forward DaJuan Summers came in Saturday nights game averaging 19.4 points per game, but Leslie dismantled the 6 foot 8 inch Georgetown product. Summers finished 1-18 with just three points. 

Find out what's happening in Santa Cruzwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Stefhon Hannah also had a complete game for the Warriors notching 22 points, seven rebounds and four assists. Cameron Jones, Darington Hobson and Hilton Armstrong all scored in double figures racking up 16, 15 and 11 respectively. 

Chris Wright lead the Red Claws with 23 and he also finished with 11 rebounds giving him a double-double. James Mays also finished with a double-double with 12 points and 14 rebounds. Shelvin Mack also added 19 points. 

The Warriors are still three games behind the Bakersfield Jam(23-9) for first place in the West. With seven straight games at Kaiser Permanente on the horizon, and 14 of the final 19 also in Santa Cruz, they'll look to gain ground on the division leader. 

The Warriors will be back in action Tuesday 26 at 7 p.m. against the Reno Bighorns. The Warriors are 3-1 against Reno this season with their most recent contest going to the Bighorns. 

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?