A three-point shot by Brendon Galipon with 3 minutes, 5 seconds remaining brought the Eagles to within a basket at 51-49,

Bullpups hold on
By Richard de Give
rdegive@HanfordSentinel.com

If you could say one thing about Washington High School after Wednesday's game, it's this: They didn't leave their hearts - or their game - in San Francisco.

After traveling much of the day, the Eagles hung with the Hanford High most of the night before falling 59-53 to conclude the first night of action in the Hanford Rotational tournament.

Wednesday also marked the first of four days for the Eagles in Hanford, where they'll be housed with members of the Bullpup basketball team for the duration.

They'll also attend classes at HHS as well as visit a dairy farm, the Adventure Park amusement complex and, of course, Superior Dairy Products Co.

"It's good for us to see some different styles of play and it's a cultural experince for us," said Washington coach Jolinko Lassiter, who recalls playing in this tournament in his day as one of the highlights of the year.








For Hanford coach Brad Felder, whose team improved to 3-0 on the season, it may as well have been a nightmare.

"I didn't think we played well tonight," he said. "We moved forward the first two games, but in this one we stood still or fell back."

The Bullpups led most of the way, taking the lead for good midway through the second quarter on a 3-point shot by Joseph Yarbrough, but were never were able to shake Washington, either.

Hanford led 26-22 at intermission and built the lead as high as 11 midway through the third quarter, only to see Washington close the gap again.

A three-point shot by Brendon Galipon with 3 minutes, 5 seconds remaining brought the Eagles to within a basket at 51-49, but Washington managed just three points, all from the line by Johnny Fu, the rest of the way.

Kiefer Rose led Hanford with 20 points. He was joined in double figures by Evan Austin with 12 points.

Beau Felder had eight rebounds and Brad Simas seven. Rose also had five steals.

Hanford was 17-of-29 from the free throw line.

Galipon led Washington with 18 points and Byron Jones added 10.

In other games, Clovis defeated Delano and Central beat Bullard 77-69.

A schedule change has been made to accommodate Bullard, whose football team plays for the Central Section Division I title Friday night. Today, Washington plays Delano at 4:30 p.m., Clovis plays Central at 6 p.m. and Hanford meets Bullard at 7:30 p.m.

Friday, it's Bullard-Washington at 4:30 p.m., Delano-Central at 6 p.m and Hanford-Clovis at 7:30 p.m.