Thanks to fantastic performances from junior Romello Bruhn and senior Tanner Thomas, the Woodland Christian boys varsity basketball team defeated Highlands in a Sierra Delta League match at Jack Hamlin Gym on Friday night.

However, a routine victory wasn’t the only cause for the celebration as Thomas became the third Cardinal in the past two seasons to cross the 1,000-point mark as a varsity basketball player.

“It’s so cool. Tanner has just been grinding since his freshman year, and suddenly, he popped on the scene,” Cardinals head coach Casey Neimeyer said. “I have seen his whole process, and he deserves this milestone. His whole friends and family were there, so it was a really cool time for our program.

“He’s not been our leading scorer, but it says a lot about our team and how we distribute. Tanner had quite a reputation in our league last year, and he made people pay attention to him. He does his scoring in a different way. He’s more of a guard, but he’s been doing a lot of work for us down low, in the post, or on the break due to our lack of size. To reach 1,000 points while not playing your natural position says even more about the player he is.”

Senior Teagan Hayes crossed the 1,000-point mark just last week as the girls’ team enjoyed an emphatic 48-22 win over Lindhurst. Almost a year ago to the day, teammate Bruhn reached the milestone in an 82-59 victory against Encina Prep.

“It’s really incredible that the school has so many of them,” Neimeyer said. “Romello is approaching 2,000 here soon. It’s cool to see where our school has come from and see these athletes put in the work and have achievements like this special. It says a lot about where the program is headed. There is no small achievement, especially when you look at other high schools.”

The Cardinals (11-5, 3-0 SDL) came into the matchup in somewhat strange form as they had only amassed a .500 record in their past six games, thanks to wins over Vacaville Christian, Argonaut, and Vallejo but losses against powerhouses Davis, Kennedy, and Chico.

Before that stretch, other big wins this season included a Yolo County sweep over Woodland, Pioneer, and Winters High School by the scores of 79-51, 61-50, and 62-33, respectively.

Highlands (7-4, 2-1 SDL) came into the matchup in great form. They kicked off their league schedule with close wins over Golden Sierra and Mesa Verde, 58-53 and 47-46, respectively.

The Cardinals didn’t care about the Scots’ form and raced out to a 14-6 lead with about 6 minutes left in the first half. While the offense might have been lacking from both sides, the possessions in the second quarter mirrored a football game. Every possesion was hotly contested, as if the teams were in the final minute of a playoff game.

However, the intensity soon cooled off, and the Cardinals’ offense began to flow a little easier after a breakaway layup from Thomas broke the scoring drought. On the next play, Bruhn tipped the ball in on a miss to make it 20-9. Bruhn stayed hot and drained a 3-pointer thanks to a fantastic outlet pass from a rebound from Isaiah Hunt to make it 23-9.

Highlands called a timeout to stop the run, and it initially worked as they went on a 4-0 run of their own, leading to the Cardinals to call a timeout.

Following the announcement that Thomas had scored his 1,000th point on the breakaway layup earlier, the Cardinals went on a run of their own.

In the second half, the Cardinals really poured it on. Sophomore Malakai Baker would hit Thomas for a breakaway layup right before Bruhn stole the ball from a Scot and found Noah Hinkle for an easy basket to go up 34-17.

Bruhn then scored back-to-back baskets in under a minute to increase the lead to 38-17. Highlands called a timeout, perhaps hoping to replicate the success of the timeout in the first half, but the magic had run out. The Cardinals went on another run to go up 42-21 at the end of the third.

In the fourth quarter, with the game out of reach, Bruhn piled it on, adding 8 more points and an assist. With just over two minutes left in the game, Neimeyer called a timeout and brought on the bench mob to finish the game.

“I think it was a great game for us,” Neimeyer said. “This is our first time around in the league, so we are getting a feel for the other schools. We anticipated coming in and being in the top half of the league. We rose to the occasion, and it was also one of the best games Romello had played in terms of scoring and dishing out to his teammates. I stress that no matter our competition, we have to get ready for the playoffs, and last night was a good step in that direction.

By the time this story was published in print, the Cardinals had already played a Saturday night road game against Liberty Ranch, and the results were unavailable.

The Cardinals’ next league game is set for Tuesday at Golden Sierra at 7:30 p.m. They will also host San Juan next Friday.