Photos by Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com

By Ray Hamill — It seems like a long time since the Hoopa Warriors were 0-5.

Under the guidance of head coach Roman Hutt, a young Hoopa boys basketball team has now won six of seven games to go to 6-6 and appears to be peaking at an opportune time.

The Warriors, who have just one senior on this year’s roster, carried that momentum into this week’s conference opener against Ferndale and finished the game strong on the way to a 51-45 victory on Thursday night.

And they’ve been succeeding with a balanced lineup, with several players stepping up their game in the absence of the team’s second leading scorer, Lyle McKinnon, who has missed the past few games through injury.

“Even before Lyle went down we were starting to step up as a team,” Hutt said. “The culture just started changing a little bit.”

The turning point for the team, according to the coach, came at the Gene Cotter Memorial Tournament in South Fork, when the Warriors overcame an 18-point fourth-quarter deficit to beat Point Arena 54-50 in the tournament third-place game.

The locker room culture changed after that performance and the players have been playing with more confidence since then.

“They’re starting to put some pieces together, and some nice possessions together,” Hutt said of his players. “The communication has been a big difference. Since then everyone has really stepped up. Everyone is starting to come into their own.”

There is plenty of talent on a roster of 11 players — a roster that includes four sophomores and six juniors — and the Warriors are growing in confidence and stature with each game.

That was evident against the Wildcats on Thursday, with the Hoopa players closing out the game stronger than their opponents and coming up with a clutch performance in the fourth quarter, where they outscored the Cats 14-8.

“We just kept the course,” Hutt said of his team’s performance. “They did well defensively and got up and down the floor like we needed to, and down the stretch we got a couple of clutch baskets.”

Neil Moon

Hoopa head coach Roman Hutt

Junior point guard Brandon Romero has been influential in the recent surge and leads the team in scoring with 11.6 points a game.

“Brandon has definitely been a consistent leader on the floor,” the coach said.

The team’s lone senior is Omar Dean, who is in his first year playing for the Warriors and has been a “calming presence” on a young roster, according to Hutt.

But just as important for the turnaround, the Warriors have been winning with a balanced offense, with different players stepping up on different nights.

Against Ferndale six Hoopa players scored six or more points, led by Neil Moon, who finished with a team-high 12 points.

“We’re pretty balanced, and they look really good when they play a balanced game,” Hutt said.

As for the Little 4, the Hoopa coach is expecting a battle every night, but he likes the fact that the conference teams — and the H-DNL teams in general — are all playing at a high level this season.

Carlos Anzora

Brian Richards

“It’s looking good to be honest,” He said of the Little 4. “Humboldt County in general is getting the talent up, which is great. I like the competition. It makes the games more exciting, and it’s cool seeing all the kid get hyped for games.

“I like to see other kids progress. I love to see the growth.”

As for his own team, Hutt believes the best is yet to come for this group of young Warriors.

“I like that they’re all coming back next year,” he said with a chuckle. “It’s a young group with a great attitude, and I like that they’e starting to see a payoff. Hopefully they can keep the momentum going.”

McKinnon, who is averaging 10.9 points a game, is expected back in the lineup in a couple of weeks and the Warriors should be at full strength for the stretch run.

Moon also has been a bright spot and is averaging 8.6 points a game.

The Warriors will hope to keep their good run going when they travel to play at Del Norte in a non-league game on Tuesday night, before returning to conference play at St. Bernard’s on Thursday.

“We’re on a pretty nice streak right now,” Hutt said.