FRESNO -- If anything good came out of Tuesday night's championship at the Clovis Elks Christmas Classic, it's that the Bullpups know where they stand at the state level and how much better they need to get. Hanford took a 2-0 lead to start the game, but that was as good as it got for the Bullpups, who were handily beaten by McClymonds (Oakland), the defending state champion in Division I, 72-40.

And the game wasn't as close as the score showed.

The Warriors fit the bill of a team that went 32-0 in 2007-08 en route to a D-I title.

Hanford was outplayed in every facet of the game by the bigger, faster, stronger Warriors currently ranked No. 7 in the state by Cal-Hi Sports and No. 27 in the country by Rivals.com.

McClymonds, with a 44-game winning streak dating back to the 2006-07 season, took a 23-7 lead after the first quarter and were up 40-15 at the half.

After D.J. Jackson-Maciel hit a layup for the game's first score, McClymonds went on a 15-0 run over the next four minutes highlighted by All-American Damon Powell's dunk from an alley oop, his first of three on the night.

The Warriors actually scored more points in the first quarter (23) than Hanford was able to put up in the first three (22).

While McClymonds was making alley oops and driving layups off quick passing, Hanford couldn't get any open shots thanks to a suffocating Warriors defense.

"They didn't have any weaknesses," said Hanford senior guard Cougar Williams. "They would try to push us to the center, we couldn't go there. If we went outside, they'd trap us. We just tried to sweep, sweep, sweep, but all of a sudden they're going the other way."

The Bullpups committed 29 turnovers and were outrebounded 32-19 by a McClymonds team that had 10 players over 6 feet tall.

At 10-5, Hanford already has more losses this year than the Bullpups had all of last season during a 31-4 campaign in which they went to the state playoffs and won the Central Section Division III championship.

Williams led Hanford with 14 points and was the only Bullpup in double figures.

McClymonds (12-0) was led by Justin Standley's 17 points. Powell, who had two early fouls and sat out most of the first half, added 16 for the Warriors.

At the most lopsided point of the game, Hanford trailed 59-22 early in the fourth quarter before going on a 10-0 run to cut it to 59-32. But the Warriors answered back. After trading baskets, McClymonds went on a 10-0 run of its own to push the lead to 72-34 before Hanford was able to score the last six points of the game.

Even though McClymonds is Division I and Hanford is now Division II, Williams said Hanford will be able to use the game to get better.

"That's what the competition is going to be like at state," he said. "This will hopefully prepare us."

The sports reporter can be reached at 583-2431.

(Dec. 31, 2008)