By Hugo Traverso

SANTA ROSA, CALIF.- Cardinal Newman crushed Piner 58-23 on Thursday in one of the 17-2 Cardinals' best performances. Freshman Guard AJ Cole led scoring with 15 points and 4 rebounds. He was followed closely by Junior Guard Tatum Kurpinsky who drained 3 three pointers en route to his 14 point, 3 rebound performance. Junior Forward Madhi Camara added 4 points and 9 rebounds, 5 of them being offensive boards.

Rebounding was huge for the Cardinals who grabbed 35 of them, 14 coming offensively. Newman only shot 40% from the field and 37.5% from long range, so rebounds became critical for the Cardinals to keep their long lead in the game. By comparison, Piner only shot 22% from the field and were 0-14 from long range. They only grabbed 23 boards, 8 of them being offensive.

It was a great team effort for CN with 4 players, Diego Gonzalez Flores, Cade Taylor, Carmine Guevara and Kai Shadan, each contributing 5 points. Shadan and Gonzalez Flores each grabbed 5 boards and were big for Newman on defense. Theo McDowell led Piner in scoring with 8 points and 9 rebounds, but got into foul trouble and fouled out of the game in the 4th Quarter. 

Newman and Piner were locked in a tough, back and forth battle in the 1st Quarter, but the Cardinals elevated in the 2nd Quarter, holding Piner to a single point, and putting up 19 points to lead at half 30-11. The Cardinals kept with the strong defense, holding Piner to 3 3rd quarter points and adding 12 to lead 42-14 after the third.

Newman rested their starters in the fourth, but their bench played great and scored 16 4th Quarter points. They held Piner to only 9 and won 58-23, capping the night off with a Carmine Guevara three pointer and a running clock.

"We played well... The offense looks good, and (I'm) proud of the guys' effort. (We're) just trying to go from good to great as a team," Cardinal Newman Coach Travis Taylor had to say about the team's effort after the game.

The final score was a shocker to most after how Piner and Newman have played in the past. Usually, it was an instant classic when they played, but Thursday was a fantastic performance by the Cardinals. Newman showed their great athleticism during the game, finishing at the rim outstandingly despite tough Piner defense.

On the other side, Piner was very quick and took some very low-percentage shots that basically were like throwing away possessions. Newman got tough shots to fall and Piner didn't. It was definitely an off-night for the Prospectors who've been pretty good this year with McDowell and Junior Guard Apollo Pereira leading the charge.

Newman, though, was on fire."I think our offense is great and it's really going this season. Tatum helps out a lot by bringing all the defenders out and creating a lane for us to drive and, yeah, I think our offense is really lethal," YSN Player of the Game AJ Cole said in his post-game interview. AJ went on to say this about the defensive focus for Newman, "All practice, we work on defense and shuttle drill and Travis really helps us on that." 

The game was battle between two great teams and Sonoma County coaches with Mike Erickson, the long time Head Coach at Piner and Sonoma County legend, leading the Prospectors. Travis Taylor, the relatively recent hire who has built the Cardinals into a powerhouse program, is leading Newman.

Erickson and Taylor have had some fantastic battles over the past few years with the most recent one before Thursday being a great game in the Sonoma County Classic Championship at Piner High School. Newman won that 44-36. Piner and Newman had some great head-to-head match-ups last year with Newman beating them in the 2022 Sonoma County Classic Championship, 51-36.

Piner then nearly knocked off the then undefeated Newman at the John Fitzgerald Gymnasium on January 12, 2023 in a tense nail biter game that ended in a 53-52 overtime win for CN. The Prospectors hosted the Cardinals about 3 weeks later on February 1, where Newman continued their NBL Title hunt with a 59-50 win in another crazy game with an electric atmosphere.

In 2019 and early 2020, Piner and Newman had some incredible games with Newman opening the series strong by beating the Prospectors by 2 in the Sonoma County Classic Championship. The Prospectors then swept Newman in league play and put the cherry on top by beating them in the NBL Oak League Tournament. Piner went 26-3 that season, 10-0 in league play and won the League Tournament. They unfortunately lost to Miramonte in the 2nd Round of NCS Playoffs. Newman went 21-8 and lost to Montgomery in the 1st Round of NCS.

Erickson has brought countless winning seasons to the Prospectors and is one of the most successful coaches in Sonoma County history. Taylor has coached at both Healdsburg and Windsor, but seems to have found his spot at Newman and looks like he is building a fantastic program. The two teams and coaches will face off again at Piner High School on January 31st; just 20 days away. 

Thursday was the first time Newman has beat Piner by 30+ points since the 2018-19 season, when Newman blew out the Prospectors 64-34 in League play. The Cardinals now turn their sights to Windsor who they face Saturday in Windsor. The Prospectors will now turn their focus to Montgomery, the league leaders, who they will host Saturday.