Providence boys’ basketball rolls over Glendale Adventist in opener
Providence High boys’ basketball Coach Michael Westphal is starting to develop a reputation for spectacular openers.
The Pioneers’ first-year leader commenced his tenure in late November with a 41-point victory.
Fast forward to Tuesday evening’s Independence League opener, which was Providence’s first-ever game in the league, and Westphal and his Pioneers were dominant again, this time defeating visiting Glendale Adventist Academy, 68-30.
The victory pushed Providence’s record to 9-8 and helped wipe the sour taste away after a lackluster 60-38 defeat to St. Genevieve on Saturday in the Providence Pioneers Showcase.
“After the last couple of games actually, we didn’t come out and start a game hard from the tip,” Westphal said. “That was a big thing I liked from the team and it’s always fun to be able to play like this.”
Junior Joe Whelan led the Pioneers with 12 points, while freshman Bryce Whitaker tallied 11 points and senior Darian Hacket added 10 points.
Joshua Young and Daniel Bradford shared the team lead with eight points for the Cougars (4-4).
The contest was all but settled in the first quarter.
Providence shot four for seven from behind the three-point line and 15 for 23 (61%) overall to race to a 32-5 advantage.
Defensively, Providence forced 13 turnovers, while committing only two.
The Pioneers kicked off the game by scoring the first 11 points with the final bucket coming on a steal and score from junior guard AJ Bautista (seven points) at 5:49 in the first quarter.
Glendale Adventist answered with a jumper from Bradford off an assist from Sabe Isaac with 4:20 remaining.
While Bradford’s bucket ended one spurt, Providence responded with an even bigger 19-0 run fueled by five points and an assist from Kirk Helling (seven points) and capped on a Bautista three-pointer with 90 seconds remaining.
Glendale finished the quarter with a free throw from Isaac and a jumper from Young to eventually trail, 32-5.
“Coach told us we had to come out with a lot of energy and our whole team did that, the starters and the bench,” said Pioneers senior guard Ammanuel Rufael, who finished with eight points. “I was a little surprised with the first quarter, but we work hard and I’m proud to be a part of this team.”
With a big lead and a small chance of a let-up, Westphal freely inserted his entire bench in the second quarter.
Even with several substitutions, Providence still won the second quarter, 10-5, as nine of 13 Pioneers scored in a first half that concluded with a 45-11 lead.
Providence led, 52-23, after three quarters before settling for a 38-point victory.
Despite the defeat, Glendale Coach Anthony Paschal was happy with his team’s fight, particularly in the second half.
“We finished the game much better than we started,” Paschal said. “We haven’t started a game well this year and that’s something we’re going to have to improve. Yes, we played a very good team, but it’s not about the other team. We have to improve.”
Providence’s 68 points were the second-most scored this season, just coming short of the team’s 69-28 season-opening victory over Aveson Global Leadership Academy.
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Andrew J. Campa, andrew.campa@latimes.com
Twitter: @campadresports
