PLEASANTON — Humboldt coach David Taylor was most happy with Rayce Hoepker in the closing minutes of the second quarter of Thursday’s 69-24 victory over Oswego in the semifinals of the Pleasanton Tournament.
Was the excitement for one of the nine three-pointers that the senior hit in the victory or for any of his baskets that led to his career-high 51 points? No, it was for a play that didn’t show up anywhere in Hoepker’s incredible stat line.
With the Cubs leading 33-14, the 5-10 guard laid out for a loose ball that ended up in the Cub bench area, just out of the reach of Hoepker. Hoepker slid on the floor and ended up at the feet of his head coach.
“We always talk about what we can control,” Taylor said. “There were two plays in the game that got me really excited. One when he did that and the other when Daylon Splane did the same thing (in the third quarter). You can control two things: defense and rebounding. We controlled both and you can hang your hat on that.”
Why was that Hoepker’s play of the game in the eyes of his coach? Because that is the standard of hustle and all out determination that Taylor holds all of his players to whether its a senior starter like Splane or Hoepker of a sophomore off the bench.
“Defense leads to offense and that is Coach Taylor’s thing,” Hoepker said. “He loves hustles plays. He thinks we should get every loose ball there is so if you don’t get on the floor, you aren’t going to play.”
The play seemed to spark Hoepker even further and fuel his play on the offensive end on the offensive end of the court.
Hoepker capped his first half scoring with a three-point play on a layup and the Cubs went into the locker room with a 36-16 lead over the Indians. The basket gave him 25 in the first half, but he was apparently just getting warmed up.
“I watched him in warmups and I thought it might be a long night for him,” Taylor said. “He couldn’t hit anything before the game.”
RAYCE SHOOTING PERCENTAGES
“My teammates set good screens so I got some open looks,” Hoepker said. “They also hustled and we got some steals which gave me some easy layups. My teammates really got me going.”
The long-ranger sniper scorer 26 points in the third quarter and every time the Indians’ defense would adjust to try to find a new way to slow him down, Hoepker and his teammates would just find a new way to get Hoepker a good look and he cashed it time and time again.
“I take whatever the defense is willing to give me,” Hoepker said. “If they are going to play me tight, I’ll drive or pull-up, but if they sag off me, I’ll shoot over them. I’ll take the open shot wherever it is.”
He opened the quarter with a three-pointer, then he forced a steal – one of his eight of the night – and convert for a layup.
“Some kids are better shooters when its inside-outside game, some kids are better shooters when it comes around the horn… (but) Rayce has all of them,” Taylor said. “Because he has worked at it.”
After Lance Daniels scored to further increase the lead, Hoepker hit another three, then a two, then a three, then Splane made a steal and tip-toed the sideline in front of Humboldt’s bench before finding Hoepker for another ‘And-One’ play, then Hoepker hit another triple with 2:44 left in the quarter.
“Our kids are really unselfish, they did everything they could do to get Rayce set up,” Taylor said. “We have sets for him, but we didn’t run very many sets, the boys did that.”
