Warriors Beat Bethesda Behind Big Night by Jenkins

As most coaches will note, ball-handling is the most important aspect of the fundamentals of basketball. The less your team turns the ball over and the more turnovers forced, leads to more shot opportunities, points, and in the end, wins. Against the Betheda Lion Angels on Wednesday night, the Nelson Warriors made their coach proud with their sticky fingers in a 97-82 victory over their Anaheim-based counterparts. "They practice what I preach," rejoiced head coach Kole Ebert following his team's strong victory. "Turning the ball over less than ten times and forcing nearly 20 in a game is a recipe for victory more often than not." Nelson's defense was anchored by Rob Jenkins who set a career-high in steals with 6 (along with team-highs of 23 points and 11 rebounds), breaking his previous mark of 5 set on February 2, 2023. "Rob was everywhere tonight," commented superfan Kevin Miller. "He is such a joy to watch play basketball. He plays with such heart on both ends of the floor. I am sure that coach was very pleased with how he played tonight"

The Bethesda men kept the game tight through the first ten minutes of the first half before the Warriors used a 46-31 run to close out the first stanza up 14 points. Nelson quickly pushed the lead up to 20 points on a Tommy Randolph (18 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists) fastbreak layup, kicked off by a Jenkins steal less than three minutes into the second half. The lead was stretched to a game-high 27 points on a Orlando Gonzales 3 with 14:45 remaining, a double-digit lead that Bethesda would cut into late, but never bring down to single-digits.

Harley Upton finished with 13 points, 2 rebounds, and 2 blocks, although his streak of five-or-more 3's made in-a-game was snapped at four with only two outside buckets. However, he has still made at least a single three-pointer in all 13 games this season. Harley's backcourt mate Gonzales finished with 10 points, 4 rebounds, and 4 assists. Zaveion Bineyard finished with 12 points and 6 rebounds, while Larry Holmes came off the bench for 11 points. Terrin Ross nearly had a double-double off the bench as well, scoring 8 points and snagging 7 boards.

Miles Sulka led the Lion Angels with 20 points and 8 rebounds while Kameron Mayhan had 12 points, 10 rebounds, 4 assists and a game-high 5 turnovers.

Up next for the now 10-3 Nelson Warriors is the 6-7 Simpson University Red Hawks on Saturday January 11, at 2pm in the Scott Activity Center.

Do not forget to follow Nelson Athletics on X at @NelsonWarriors and Instagram at @nelsonwarriors.athletics.