Jimenez Comes Up Big

Nice work!

Shafter Boys Soccer Valley Champs

Everyone wishes it had ended differently, though. It sounds like Wasco really showed some class and honor on this. Just sad all the way around.

Girls Basketball and Boys Soccer

For the next month, maybe more, posting is going to be pretty light. However, I have been remiss in not pointing out the great success of the girls basketball team and the boys soccer team. The girls were 8 and 2 in league, good for a share of the SSL title with Tehachapi. And if you thought the boys have a nice crop of youngsters, the girls team has one senior. Hannah Ramirez, the team's leading scorer, is a freshman. They play Selma tonight at home.

The boys soccer team is 17 and 5 overall and faces Wasco for the Division IV Valley Championship on Friday. (How cool is that?) The last time the teams met the game ended in a 1-1 tie.

Shafter 53, Wasco 43

Beating Wasco is always pleasant. This one lasts all off-season.

It looks like senior Cristian Barrios went out with a bang. 27 points is a season high, career high, and the most points scored by anyone in a Shafter uniform in the last three seasons. Reminiscent of Alex Gonzalez's 24 point game in the last meeting with Wasco last year.

SHAFTER Barrios 27, C. Parsons 4, Hernandez 6, Auzurez 14, T. Parsons 2.

WASCO Alanis 7, Acosta 2, Salinas 6, Hinojosa 18, Rodriguez 10.

JV, FS Shafter d. Wasco

Don't Miss

this very nice story from Carole Lynn Anderson about her trip to see her former student Phillip Jimenez play alongside fellow General Ralphie Santos in a game at Cuesta College. I've been meaning to do an update on these two. The Cougars are 24 and 5, riding a six game winning streak into tomorrow's game, the last before the playoffs.

Ralphie redshirted last year and is playing well in limited action. Most of the playing time as been taken by second year players, so Ralphie is poised to step into a much larger role next year. Phillip is a big part of the Cuesta attack in this his second season, averaging more than 10 points per game.

It is great to hear about these guys doing so well on and off the court. I think I can speak for all of Generaldom in saying that we are proud of you.

Wasco Tonight

Shafter plays Wasco tonight.

Both have had better seasons, but no matter, expect the Den of Darkness to be a hopping hot box.

Go Generals!

Shafter 48, Arvin 54

Another tough loss.

Arvin 54, Shafter 48

SHAFTER (6-18, 2-7 SSL) -- Senoran 1, Barrios 16, Trujillo 2, Lazaro 2, C.Parsons 6, Hernandez 4, Anzurez 10, T.Parsons 2, Puildo 5.

ARVIN (6-20, 1-8) -- Solorio 5, E.Cordova 7, Williams 9, A.Cordova 2, Miranda 8, Martinez 8, Barrera 10, Chavez 5 JV, FS--Shafter d. Arvin

Tehachapi Tonight

The Generals face the Warriors tonight in the Old Gym. I don't have much to add about Tehachapi. Weather trouble has crammed Tehachapi's schedule next week - four games in four days. Also the JV and Varsity teams for Tehachapi are undefeated in league, boys and girls.

Shafter 52, Taft 60

SHAFTER (6-16, 2-5 SSL) Senoran 6, Barrios 17, Trujillo 14, C. Parsons 2, Hernandez 4, Anzurez 3, T. Parsons 5, Pulido 1.

TAFT (18-7, 5-2) Liljeroos 4, McPherson 6, LeClair 6, Lopez 6, Howell 11, Jorgensen 8, Watts 2, Emberson 14, Johnson 3. JV, FS Taft d. Shafter

Taft Preview

The Generals go on the road tonight to face Taft. Taft is still in the hunt for the league title, though close losses to Tehachapi and BCHS mean that they need some help. Shafter is a longer shot, but is hungry for some quality league wins to show that the Wasco loss and not the BCHS win was a fluke.

Taft's team resembles Shafter's in some ways. Both are led by quick point guards who like to get into the lane in Cristian Barrios and Eric LeClair. Both also feature three point specialists as their secondary scoring threat in Adrian Trujillo and Clint Jorgensen. Shafter and Taft both run versions of former Clovis West, Fresno City, and Pepperdine coach Vance Walberg's offense against man defense. Taft is older. They get about two thirds of their scoring from seniors and 6 of their top 10 scorers are seniors. Shafter also gets the bulk of its scoring from seniors, but two of them are responsible for a very large share of it and there are more underclassmen in the mix.

Shafter 56, BCHS 68

BCHS Preview

BCHS comes to Shafter tonight in hopes of avenging their loss to the Generals in the first round of league play. Since that game BCHS lit up Wasco and Arvin like it was 2008, beat a good Taft team and narrowly lost to Tehachapi. I am sure they will show up with a chip on their shoulders. In general, the team seems to have some anger issues with 5 technicals on the year.

Shafter 63, Tehachapi 71

Shafter was again done in by a disastrous quarter. This time it was frame number two, which Tehachapi won 26-2, putting Tehachapi ahead 33-15 at the half. The Generals came storming back in the second half, cutting the Warrior lead to 6 with just over a minute to play, but couldn't get closer.

Tehachapi Preview

The Generals make the trip up the mountain tonight to face the Tehachapi Warriors in a make up game for the snow canceled contest earlier in the season. Tehachapi remained unbeaten in league with a 67-63 win over BCHS last night. As they typically do, Tehachapi has quite a few long, athletic players. Jordan Beardsley and Bivouac name fave Dougan Patience return from last year's squad. The emergence of the dunking 6-1 sophomore point guard Corey Lange has only added to the Warriors strength. Lange scored 19 against BCHS and 22 against Taft.

The Generals have proven that they can beat teams like Tehachapi. Sierra was a similarly big and athletic team and has a similar record. They have also lost to teams much less talented. That's why they play the game.

Here is Shafter vs. Tehachapi all time.

Victor Valley Highlights

Slowly moving through the highlights, here is Victor Valley.

Despite the score, there were some nice plays mixed in there and those clips at the end of Barrios driving and dishing to Evan Hernandez only look like the same clip repeated over and over.'

Note: I formatted this for a wide screen, so you'll need to double click on the video to watch the whole thing at youtube. Sorry.

Shafter 57, BAA 59

It was close throughout and came right down to the wire. Shafter was down by 1 with the ball and 22 seconds left. A General missed a shot inside and had to foul the rebounder. 14 seconds left. BAA made both, giving them a three point lead. Shafter made a quick layup and timeout with 9.5 seconds on the clock. Quick foul. 8.6 on the clock. BAA made one, missed one. Two point game. The Generals brought it up and got a corner shot from Greg Anzurez, which bounced off the rim as time expired.

Bakersfield Adventist Preview

This is going to be a busy week. No time for sulking. Three games against three good opponents. Things start tonight with a long awaited home game with Bakersfield Adventist. The Eagles are 9-2 on the year. Their most impressive local win was against Highland. They beat Wasco by two. They lost to South and Tehachapi. Point guard Tyler Wooldridge is the Eagles' best player. In all Bakersfield Adventist is that unusual private school that is not very good or very bad at basketball. Barring another freakishly bad quarter, this should be a good match-up.