Pitman High’s boys varsity basketball team were handed just their second loss in Central California Athletic League play in as many seasons on Wednesday night. And it came at the hands — or paws — of their most storied rival.
That team was Turlock High, who took advantage of the Pride’s rough shooting night and rode a 27-point performance from senior guard Ross Widemon to a 56-47 win in front of a rowdy crowd inside Bulldog Arena.
The Bulldogs forced the Pride, who had lost just one game to start the season, to 30.6% shooting (15-for-49) from the field.
Turlock improved to 8-11 overall and jumped to fourth place with a 1-2 record in CCAL play. Pitman dropped to 19-2 overall and down to second place in the league standings with a 2-1 record against conference opponents, now looking up at 3-0 Enochs.
The Bulldogs led for the entirety of Wednesday's game, getting off to a quick start thanks to the shooting of senior Dutch Lawrence, who poured in seven points to answer an early six from Pitman senior guard Avery Sanchez. Turlock’s top scorer last season with 329 points and 12.7 points per game, Lawrence has taken advantage of the extra attention drawn to Widemon, who has averaged 28.8 points per game through his first five games in a Bulldog uniform.
Lawrence’s scoring ability was especially needed Wednesday, as Widemon began his night by missing four of his first five shots of the night. But the dynamic 6-foot-2 combo guard who transferred from Modesto Christian could only be contained for so long, as he scored six straight points and nine points total in the Bulldogs’ 16-4 run in the third quarter to help grow their lead to 42-27 entering the fourth frame. During that time, the Pride made just four of 17 field goal attempts.
Pitman didn’t go quietly, though, as they went on a 14-2 run in the fourth quarter to cut the deficit to seven points with about two minutes to play. The surge was led by junior Cole Martin, who after making just three of 16 attempts, finally found his stroke, scoring eight points on three straight makes. The Pride also began driving to the basket, where they drew four fouls that resulted in six made free throws.
The Pride were on the verge of closing the gap even further until Lawrence intercepted a pass and drove the distance of the court for an easy layup to put a halt to the Pride’s momentum. Widemon proceeded to drain a three to all but ice the game.
“I knew we needed to stop the bleeding,” said Lawrence, who finished with 13 points. “We stayed composed and it really helped, just looking for the chance to make a play.”
The Pride, trying to play the possession game, sent Widemon to the line where made three free throws to put a cap on the Bulldog’s first CCAL win of the year. He let out a thunderous roar while being embraced by Lawrence in front of Turlock High’s student section.
The relationship between the two goes back to kindergarten at Earl Elementary.
“We’ve been playing together since we were little,” Lawrence said. “I know how he plays. We work so well together. We can work off each other, and it's just amazing.”
“That’s been my brother since the sandbox,” Widemon added.
Widemon described his first taste of the crosstown rivalry as “amazing.”
“The gym was crazy. My school, they've been talking about it forever, that Turlock-Pitman rivalry and that it never gets old,” he said. “All the guys came out, all the ladies came out. The gym was moving. I thought my team just fed off that energy.”
Widemon also secured 10 rebounds to record his first double-double of the season. The Bulldogs outrebounded their rivals 25-22, despite the Pride having a visible size advantage. Lawrence and senior Izaiah Saenz each had five boards, while junior Nehemiah McGowan had four.
First-year varsity head coach Rick Fetter felt Lawrence's efforts off the ball particularly stood out. To go along with his points and rebounds, he racked up four steals and a block.
“I love the way Dutch has played all season long, because even though the offense hasn't been there every game, he's always giving us everything on defense. He's always wanting to match up with the other team’s best players, even before Ross was eligible for the season, and the guys trust him and believe in him,” Fetter said.
Sanchez led the Pride with 16 points, while Martin scored 14.
“Coming to this game, we weren't looking at our record,” Widemon said. “We watched film, we saw what they ran, and we knew we could capitalize off it.”
After losing in the waning seconds of their first two CCAL games (66-63 to Enoch on Jan. 15 and 69-62 to Gregori on Jan. 17), Fetter felt as if Wednesday’s game was a “must-win.”
“We feel like there's quite a few games that we could have won, should have won,” Fetter said. “I'm just happy with these guys not losing confidence. After Enochs and Gregori got us last week, we knew we could play with good teams. We knew we could play with them (Pitman). We just had to start finishing. We needed this to keep competing and keep thinking about the playoffs. I think the guys heard that rallying cry.”
The Bulldogs and Pride each travel to Modesto on Friday to continue conference play. Turlock faces Downey (3-16, 1-2) while the Pride take on Enochs (13-6, 3-0).
