FAIR OAKS, CA (MPG) - The Del Campo Cougars hosted the Cordova Lancers in the opening round of the Sac-Joaquin Section Division III Boys Basketball Playoffs on Wednesday night. The 4^th seeded Cougars entered the playoffs with a 19-8 record while the 13^th seeded Lancers entered at 14-12. There was a good sized crowd on hand to support the teams that are separated by just eight miles – and they were not disappointed.

The Cougars jumped out to a quick 7-0 lead before Cordova finally got on the board two minutes in after a steal and finish by senior point guard Calvin Augusta. Del Campo senior small forward Michael Holmes answered with his first bucket of the night but the Lancers responded with back to back threes, cutting the lead to 9-8. The Lancers’ gritty defensive intensity picked up, but their offense remained inconsistent despite grabbing the slim lead. Cordova led 13-12 after the opening quarter.

After being frustrated by the Lancers physical defense in first quarter, Del Campo’s Holmes opened the second up with a three-point play to get the home crowd going. But the Lancers’ Sam Danielyan nailed a big three in retaliation to retake the lead at 22-20. Neither team could gain much separation as the half ended at 30-27 in favor of Cordova.

The teams exchanged two baskets each out half time and both offenses appeared to be fired up. Holmes started being more aggressive for the Cougars after a quieter first half in which he only scored nine points. But Augusta’s fiery point guard play combined with some key three point shooting wouldn’t allow Del Campo to recapture the lead. Cordova was feeling confident as Danielyan nailed another deep three as the third quarter expired to take a 50-45 lead into the final quarter.

It was a lift off of the bench by Del Campo senior Marshaun Hunter that got the home crowd back into the game early in the fourth. Hunter was all over the offensive glass, giving the Cougars much needed second chance opportunities. But it was Holmes who took over down the stretch. He would turn it on and score 19 in the second half, including 14 in the fourth quarter to lead Del Campo back from what was looking to be a big upset in the opening round of the Sac-Joaquin playoffs.

Defensively, the Cougars swarmed Augusta and finally found a way to keep him out of the paint. The Lancers offense couldn’t put anything else together as their three pointers dried up. Between the late offensive outburst from Holmes and big threes from guards Rory McGinnis and Jordan Bryant, the Cougars took the lead with just under three minutes to go and held on for the 71-65 win.

“I just kept playing,” Holmes said in regards to his tough start. Del Campo moves on to face the Patterson Tigers on Friday night but Holmes and the Cougars don’t care about the matchup because they know that regardless of their opponent they have to play much sharper basketball if they want to reach the ultimate goal of winning a championship.

As for the Lancers, their season comes to an end sooner than they had hoped. But at 14-13 overall, a winning season and a playoff appearance is still a bright spot for a young team that suited up five underclassmen and dealt with the absence of senior point guard Calvin Augusta due to a knee injury for the better part of the season.