Hankins Breaks Scoring Mark as Warriors down Nobel

By Brandon Petersen

Five minutes and 30 seconds into the Warrior's 60-46 win over Nobel Wednesday at Vanguard, Micaiah Hankins sunk a layup and became the most prolific scorer in Westcliff men's basketball history.

Hankins is also Westcliff's all-time assists and steals leader, and after a freshman season in which he helped lead the Warriors to their first Cal Pac championship, there is absolutely no more room for debate – Hankins has cemented his legacy as a Warrior legend.

"It's a blessing," Hankins said. "I thank God every single day for the opportunity to come play here. Really, it's my first accolade in my life, for real, so, I just thank God, and my teammates, and my family. I'm really glad they could be here with me on this journey."

To be certain, the feeling is mutual.

Hankins is an extraordinary team leader – vocal, when need be, a tireless worker, a classroom guy and a program guy. There's a reason why he holds the records.

But in this challenging season in which the Warriors have faced more than their fair share of adversity already, it's not about Hankins, but the whole, and to be sure, the whole was greater than the sum of its parts Wednesday.

Both Hankins and Aaron Strings finished with a team-high 14, while Jeramiah Paulino was perfect from the stripe and turned in 12.

Rayven Turner didn't need to fill up the cup (seven points), but instead dominated the boards (12 rebounds, four offensive).

But more than any other Warrior, Hankins included, the game belonged to the big man in the middle – Evan Hoosier.

Check out this line: 5-of-7 from the field for 10, 10 rebounds, three on the offensive end. And seven blocks. Yes, count them, seven blocks – one shy of another program record.

Hoosier finished three blocks from a triple-double.

"We've been trying to emphasize getting it inside, and playing outside off of that," Hankins said. "Feeding our big is what we were aiming for. Evan did a great job, he stepped up to the plate, got some rebounds today. We've been emphasizing him getting more physical, so, yeah, that's what we did."

Cameron Snyder made his first appearance of the season Wednesday and sunk a triple.

Snyder graduated a year ago and has served on the Warriors' sideline as a GA thus far this year. But after an injury to Marques Sales, and the absence of some other key parts, Snyder was called upon by the coaching staff to get back in the game.

He did just that, but it will take a while for Snyder to get back into the swing of things.

In the meantime, the Cal Pac season is finally getting underway Saturday with a showdown with La Sierra at Golden West.

The Warriors will have to build on Wednesday's win to get it done.

"I think we came together, even when we got punched, we punched back," Hankins said. "We still could be better on defense. We executed the offense pretty well. But overall, just a great effort. We came out with the win at the end of the day, and it's better to learn from a win than from a loss. So, we'll just keep it pushing into conference."

Westcliff will welcome in Pacific Union on Jan. 23^rd, and Cal Maritime on the 25^th, before heading to UC Merced on the 30^th.