Weston Ranch boys basketball opened its season with a 94-66 loss to Inderkum High School of Sacramento on Saturday.

It was a long night in more ways than one. The Cougars were scheduled to begin their game at 6:30. However, all start times were delayed due to an injury during an earlier contest. Weston Ranch finally took the floor at 9:20. The late start was different from the beginning the Cougars had hoped for when they left Weston Ranch to play at Fortune School in Elk Grove.

Unfortunately, it didn’t get any better for the Cougars as the game began.

The Cougars shot 37% from the floor in field goals and struggled with turnovers and team fouls the entire game. Weston Ranch surrendered 30 turnovers (19 in the first half) and committed over 20 total team fouls for the game.

“We committed 30 turnovers, and you can’t beat anybody that way, let alone one of the best teams in Northern California,” Podesta said.

Weston Ranch trailed 7-0 in the game’s first two minutes. They did, however, fight back and took a 14-13 lead with 1:50 left in the first quarter and looked to have settled down. But, instead, Inderkum used a 5-0 run to close the quarter and led 18-16. And that was as close as the Cougars would get the rest of the night.

“The fact that we committed ten turnovers in the first quarter alone and only down two is a testament to how hard our team worked,” Podesta said.

On the bright side, the Cougars shot well from the free-throw line (21 for 30) and collected 35 rebounds. They also had 15 assists and 11 steals, creating shots and taking the ball away from Inderkum with their pressure. So while the Cougars didn’t win on the scoreboard, there were plenty of good things to point out.

“I was proud of our guys’ effort,” Podesta said. “They worked very hard, and we accomplished what we wanted from a gameplan standpoint.”

Offensively, Khristian Holmes led the Cougars with 20 points. Elliot Mobley added 16 points. Elijah Mobley and Richard banks chipped in nine points apiece.

“We just need to play cleaner. We also need to do a significantly better job of rebounding moving forward,” Podesta concluded.

Weston Ranch will take the floor in Nor-Cal Tip-Off Classic on November 26 at Dublin High School. The Cougars will play Archbishop Riordan High at 3:30.