No. 1 Warriors outlast No. 3 Edinburg on the road

EDINBURG — Stick together and good things happen.

Such was the case for the Santa Rosa Warriors in their 2009-10 season opener.

The top-ranked Warriors outlasted the No. 3 Edinburg Bobcats in three overtimes and held on for a 90-88 victory on Tuesday at Bobcats Gym.

"I told them we have to stick together all year and keep a positive attitude," Warriors head coach Johnny Cipriano said. "And the kids did that today. They let me do all the talking. We have the right athletes playing. We just have to play together as a team. And we did tonight."

Santa Rosa (1-0) stormed out to a 46-33 halftime lead.

But the Bobcats (0-1) took advantage of some Santa Rosa breakdowns to get back in the game.

Outscoring the Warriors 23-11 in the third, Edinburg only trailed 57-56 after three quarters before tying it at the end or regulation.

"I know they're still missing some football players and they don’t have a full team," Cipriano said. "But we've only had our full team one and a half week too. I wasn't expecting this. A three overtime game in the first game of the season…I wasn't expecting it. We started off good. It's like we never left the floor."

Santa Rosa made history last year as the Warriors reached the Class 2A State Tournament in March.

The Warriors were the first team since Roma did it from 1975-77 to play in the state's Final Four.

Cipriano is well aware that this is only the first of many games this season. But it was a good start.

"I keep telling them that no matter what, we have to stick together," Cipriano said. Everyone's going to make mistakes. I'm going to make mistakes. No one's perfect. But we've got to stick together. If we make a mistake, we just have to suck it up and make it up down the line."