Photos courtesy of Charla Shults
The Pampa Hustlin’ Harvesters (1-3) earned their first win of the season on Tuesday when they took down the Bobcats on Tuesday at Childress 50-38.
“It was a great road win in a tough environment,” Head Coach Braydon Barker said. “They are a physical team that really gets after it on defense. They actually beat us last year at our place, so it was nice to get a little revenge.”
The Harvesters exploded out of the gate against Childress, outscoring the Bobcats 22-7 in the first quarter.
“It was by far the best defensive game we have had this year,” Barker said. “We were much more active than we were in our previous games. We were able to get deflections early that led to some easy transition baskets for us.”
Barker added that the 3-ball tends to be what Childress builds their offense around, but the aforementioned stout defense held the Bobcats to 16 percent (5-31) from the arc.
“We knew going in that they love to shoot the three,” Barker said. “We really harped on taking the 3-point shot away and closing out hard on their shooters. I think we did a great job of that, so that made it very difficult for them to score.
"We are pretty tough to score against inside with our size and length, so when we are able to take away the perimeter as well, we are very difficult to score against.”
One of the 10 seniors on the Harvesters this year is Cam Johnston, who is playing this year despite injuring his shoulder over the summer.
“This is Cam's second year on varsity.” Barker said. “He was having a great summer before he injured his shoulder. He honestly probably should have had surgery that would have made him miss his senior year but he chose to play through it.
“That is just one example of how tough and how great of a kid and teammate Cam is. He always cheers for his teammates when he is not in the game and is always engaged and ready to go when his number is called.”
The Harvesters will be competing in the New Home Tournament this weekend. Their next home game will be Dec. 9 when they host Bushland.
Stat round up
Sophomore Talan Garcia had 10 points, went 2-3 in threes, had six rebounds, four assists, a deflection, a steal and a block; Senior Dalton Booth had 19 points with three treys, 2-2 in free throws, five rebounds, four assists, four deflections and four steals; Senior Jose Alonzo had two points with five rebounds, five assists, four deflections and two steals; Senior Aaron Martinez had four points, two rebounds, two assists, two deflections and one steal; Senior Keegan Upton had three rebounds and a deflection; Senior Parker Webb had three points, 10 rebounds, two assists and two steals; Senior Tristan Bagwell had 10 points, two rebounds, one deflection and two steals; and Senior Dase Scott had two points, one rebound and one deflection. The Harvesters went 3-18 in free throws.