BY AARON PATTERSON
DANVILLE — If the Pima Community College Aztecs could have their way, all of their games might include extended timeouts. Or perhaps the high school system of breaking the game down into quarters would be beneficial for guard Warren Baker.
“I kind of teased with the coach that we should start Warren, let him play about two or three minutes, take him out, take him back to the locker room and let him go through the whole process all over again,” Pima coach Karl Pieroway said. “Let him get undressed, get changed, put him back in his uniform.
“He comes out like gangbusters every time whether it’s first half or second half. Part of it is, he comes out with a great attitude.”
Baker made only two field goals in the first half of the Aztecs’ 74-66 consolation semifinal win over the Grand Rapids Community College Raiders. The shots were both 3-pointers on consecutive possessions, and gave his team the lead each time. The Hammond, La., product finished with a game-high 19 points thanks to a second-half effort that helped Pima gain an 11-point advantage, it’s largest of the game.
“I had to come out more aggressive in the second half, because in the first half, I was taking some quick shots that weren’t in our offense,” Baker said. “So I had to come out more aggressive and be smart taking it to the basket and putting it in the goal helping our team get a W.”
The momentum began to shift to Pima’s favor with 7:47 remaining in the contest when Jeremy Harden hit back-to-back treys which gave the Aztecs their final lead of the game.
They were Harden’s only baskets of the game, but none could have been more crucial to the final outcome.
“Those were in our offense,” Baker said. “The ball rotated really good around. It was a wide-open shot and he knocked them down like he usually does. It was all in our offensive rotation. He nailed them down.
He’s a sophomore more so he knows that he can shoot at any time. We all know that he can shoot. Even though he didn’t really score in the first half, we still had confidence that he could still knock them down and he did.”
Coming out with more intensity on the defensive end was going to be a must for the Aztecs if they wanted to have an opportunity to extend their stay at the national tournament until Saturday.
Though they only forced nine turnovers in the game, Pima converted five into quick baskets.
“We were down and we knew that if we wanted to make it to the next game tomorrow we had to come out with stronger energy,” said Pima’s Daniel Conorque, who finished with 16 points and 12 rebounds. “And on defense, that’s what we’re all about. Once we put pressure on the ball, there’s not a team that was going to stop us. All we had to do was play up on the ball and we would stop them.”
JaMier Morris contributed directly to the Aztecs’ offense also recording a double-double scoring 14 points and dishing out 13 assists.
Brad Whitby (16 points, four assists), Quinntrai Lampkins (13 points) and James Thomas (18 points) led the Raiders.
Grand Rapids coach Kelly McEwen knew that in order to gain control of the game, his team had to take advantage of every opportunity possible early in the second half.
“We had a chance early in the second half to get some distance,” McEwen said. “There was a two-minute stretch there where we turned the ball over and they scored off of it. We only turned the ball over nine times, so we took pretty good care of it. I think they converted four of them for layups and that was pretty critical in the second half.”
The Aztecs will meet the St. Clair Skippers today at noon for seventh place. The Skippers defeated Monroe 83-67 in Friday’s first consolation semifinal.
“They’re very disappointed we didn’t win the first game,” Pieroway said. “But like Warren said, this is a big deal for us to be here. We’ve talked about with the sophomores, they’re kind of paving a path. And they’re building a program. Pima has not been very successful. I’ve told them since we got here, every step they take, the group that comes behind them, it makes it that much easier for those guys. So we’re very appreciative of every win that we get here.”
