SANTA CRUZ >> Forward Blake Hinson made so many 3-pointers Friday night, he nearly ran out of celebrations. He shot arrows, flexed, talked a little trash … So, after his final two long-range makes, he went into Stephen Curry’s reserves, a hand on each temple a shaking head.

Yes, he was unbelievable. Hinson tied a franchise record with 10 3s and finished with a season-high 44 points, as the Santa Cruz Warriors trounced the Rip City Remix 150-105 in front of 2,476 fans at Kaiser Permanente Arena to secure a spot in the NBA G League’s Western Conference playoffs.

“Our guys were awesome tonight,” said Nicholas Kerr, the Warriors’ second-year head coach. “We knew what was on the line. And we lost a couple in a row, so we were pissed off, too. It was really good to get back in the win column.”

The Warriors have qualified for postseason nine times in their 13 years in Santa Cruz, including the COVID-19 season, when the playoffs were cancelled.

Santa Cruz (19-14 overall) has a chance to secure a home game for the playoffs. But to do so, it has to beat Rip City (14-19) again in the teams’ regular-season finale at KP Arena on Saturday at 7 p.m.

And it needs a little help. Rio Grande Valley (20-13) holds the No. 4 spot and is one game ahead of the Warriors. The idle, playoff-bound Valley Suns (20-14) sit at No. 5, a half game ahead Santa Cruz. RGV hosts Stockton (21-12) in the teams’ regular-season finale on Saturday at 5 p.m.

The first round of the playoffs begin Tuesday.

“We’re clicking at the right time and I’m excited about the playoffs,” said Warriors forward Javan Johnson, who had 20 points, five rebounds, and four blocked shots in 26:25 off the bench.

Hinson and several other starters exited the court with 6:55 remaining and never returned as Kerr emptied his bench. Several of Kerr’s assistants checked in with Andrew Winfield, Santa Cruz’s public relations coordinator, to see how close Hinson was to breaking the single-game 3-point record (one shy) and single-game scoring record (five points shy), but word never got back to the head coach.

Had it, Kerr said he likely would’ve kept Hinson in the game for a couple of more minutes.

Hinson didn’t seem too upset. He planned to celebrate his outing and the Warriors’ win with a couple of cookies.

“When I dunk, that’s my favorite thing,” Hinson said. “I celebrate dunks. Probably gonna go home and eat a cookie or something. Every time I dunk that’s a big deal to me. I done it like four times tonight. That’s a big deal.”

The Warriors scored a season-high 47 points in the second quarter. They went on a 30-12, highlight-filled run in the final eight minutes of the second quarter to turn a 47-46 lead into a 77-58 advantage at the half.

At the midway point, Hinson had 22 points and two-way forward Braxton Key already had a double-double to his name. By game’s end, three other teammates joined him with double-doubles.

Santa Cruz outscored the Remix 32-20 in the third quarter, and Kerr finally exhaled.

The Warriors shot 53.3% (56 of 105) from the field and 43.5% (20 of 46) from beyond the arc. They outrebounded the Remix 62-35 and finished with 37 assists against 15 turnovers.

Santa Cruz’s largest lead was 47, a new season high. The old mark was 42. It’s 45-point margin of victory also better the previous mark of 39.

Guard Yuri Collins had 16 points and 12 assists. Key finished with 15 points, 13 rebounds, six assists, and five steals. Two-way forward Jackson Rowe had 14 points and 10 rebounds, and two-way guard Taran Armstrong had 10 points and 10 assists.

After Santa Cruz’s starters were pulled, they cheered for their teammates’ success, and went wild when Cheikh Mbacke Diong made his first 3 in 15 games since joining the team.

“Seeing the group support everybody was awesome, too,” Kerr said.

Rip City suited up just seven players. Sterling Manley, a 6-foot-11 center, had 34 points and eight rebounds, both team highs, for the Remix. Forward Vincent Valerio-Bodon scored 18 points, and Terquavion Smith had 14 points and 12 assists in 31:47 off the bench.

Romeo Weems, Cameron Tyson, and Jaykwon Walton each scored 11 points for the Remix.

“That’s not the personnel they always have; that always factors in,” Kerr said. “It was really fun seeing the pace we were able to play with. We knew that they had seven so we were trying to wear them down and we did a good job with it.”

Kerr credited Collins, Johnson, Hinson, and Donta Scott for their season-long contributions.

“When we were down two-ways, we stole a bunch of games against teams that, on paper, had more talent,” he said. “Because of those guys’ execution, heart, and competitiveness … and then (Marcus) Burk helped us a bunch this year, Cam (Parker), Seth (Maxwell), Mbacke, all those guys helped us win games in January and February that allowed us to be in this spot. So it was great that they got to play in tonight’s game, too.”