Ray Conner
Sports Editor

Kern Valley enjoys winning at Lone Pine Summer Basketball Tournament.

This past weekend, the Broncs collected two more wins as they clobbered Lone Pine 61-35 and got past Immanuel Christian 65-55. The only blemish came at the hands of the Outlawz of Livermore who beat Kern Valley 65-53.

In the win over Lone Pine, the Broncs started off slow, but took control in the second quarter to lead to the blow out win over the Eagles.

After one quarter the game was close at 11-10 in favor of the Broncs.

Kern Valley flooded the offense as they scored 26 points in the 10-minute running clock quarter.

The Broncs defense shut down Lone Pine as they were held to just two points. The score at the break was 3-12.

Despite getting out scored 14-10 in the third, the Broncs added another 14 in the final quarter to gain the lop-sided victory over the Eagles.

The Broncs saw four players score in double figures and one player recorded a double-double in the contest.

Jordan Lawson scored 18 points and grabbed 10 rebounds to lead Kern Valley for his double-double.

Dusty Heffner, Anthony Hernandez and Kenny Haigler were the other three Broncs to eclipse the double figure mark in scoring.

Six of Hernandez’s points were from behind the three-point arc as he dropped in two shots from long-distance.

Kevin Mixon scored four points, while Ignacio Anzaldo and Corey Mixon each had two points to close out the scoring for the Broncs.

On the boards, K. Mixon pulled down nine boards, while Haigler had seven rebounds. Hernandez had five boards, while C. Mixon grabbed three rebounds.

Heffner handed out a team-high nine assists, while Anzaldo dished out six assists.

Heffner, Hernandez and Lawson each were credited with a blocked shot.

Head coach Brian Christianson said, “I am very happy with the personality that this team is developing for next season. We are working together and we are becoming a tough team within the basketball framework. The players really learned a lot and grew a lot as basketball players and a basketball team this summer. I am really looking forward to our season.”

In their other win on the day, Kern Valley jumped out to a quick 20-12 lead after the first quarter and had the half time lead at 34-26.

In the third quarter the Crusaders of Immanuel Christian out scored the Broncs 20-17 to cut the lead to five heading into the final quarter.

Kern Valley got back on track offensively and grabbed the 10-point victory.

Lawson recorded his second double-double of the day as he scored a team-high 22 points, including two three-pointers and swept away 11 rebounds also a team high.

Hernandez poured in 21 points, including 15 coming from long-distance. Heffner and Haigler each had eight points, while Aaron LaFarga added four points. K. Mixon rounded out the scoring with two points.

On the boards, K. Mixon and Haigler each pulled down nine rebounds. Hernandez had two boards, while Heffner dished out a team-high eight assists.

Haigler recorded three blocked shots, while Lawson and Heffner each had one block in the game.

Christianson said, “Obviously, we shot the ball real well in this game. I really liked how we moved the ball around and how our point guard was able to get the ball to our shooters. We do need to tighten up our defense.”

In their third game, the Broncs took on and fell to the Outlawz of Livermore. They have faced this team almost every summer that they have played in the summer basketball program.

The game was close the first half as Kern Valley trailed by only three points at 33-30.

Coming out of the break, the Outlawz exploded for 22 points, while Kern Valley was limited to just eight points.

Trailing by 17 heading into the fourth, the Broncs out scored their opponents 15-10, but it was not enough to close the gap.

Hernandez was the top points man as he dropped in a total of 19 points. He hit four shots from behind the three-point arc.

Lawson and Haigler each scored 14 points, while K. Mixon added four points. Lawson hit a pair of three-pointers, while Heffner rounded out the scoring with two points.

On the boards, Lawson topped the chart with eight rebounds. Haigler grabbed six boards, while K. Mixon had five rebounds. Hernandez recorded four boards, while LaFarga and Anzaldo each had one rebound.

Heffner handed out another seven assists to averaged eight assists in the three-game tournament.

“We play the Outlawz almost every summer and we always know that they will be very tough and this year was no different,” said Christianson, “This was the best team that we faced all summer. We did a good job of being disciplined and doing what we needed to do to play against this team. We really need to do a better job of rebounding. I was proud of how the team competed in this game.”