How 3-point shooting has transformed Dinuba into a Tulare County powerhouse
Around the time Steph Curry and the Golden State Warriors started taking the NBA by storm, Dinuba boys basketball coach Jeff Schofield hatched an idea.
Why not try to replicate the Warriors' attacking 3-point style at the high school level?
Schofield went 40-69 in his first four seasons before the Emperors turned the corner starting with the 2010-11 campaign.
That season, Dinuba broke out with a 17-11 run.
The very next year, the Emperors found their stride, going 20-8 while advancing to the 2012 Central Section Division III quarterfinals.
Under Schofield's leadership, Dinuba has eight seasons with at least 20 wins:
20-8 (2011-12)
22-7 (2012-13)
24-6 (2013-14)
20-9 (2017-18)
27-9 (2018-19)
23-7 (2019-20)
26-4 (2021-22)
26-5 (2022-23)
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Schofield did not coach the Emperors from 2015-17 while serving as the school's athletic director but returned for a second tenure in late 2017.
Now in his 14th year at Dinuba, Schofield entered this season with an overall 248-138 record.
That type of success is partly due to the deep ball. In the Emperors' 55-50 win over Redwood on Dec. 12, Dinuba drained eight triples to rally back from a nine-point halftime deficit.
"When I played, teams would shoot 10 or 12 3-pointers a game," Schofield said. "There are some games now where we shoot 40 a game. That fits our style. We have a big kid this year but a lot of years, we don't have a lot of size so we try to use our 3-point shots as one of our weapons."
That paid off against Redwood.
The Rangers led 36-27 at the break before Dinuba made a furious comeback in the final quarter.
Down 45-38, Emperors junior guard Josiah Ochoa drained a trey to spark a 12-0 run — all four shots were 3-pointers. During that stretch, Javier Torres also canned a shot from beyond the arch and Ochoa and Joseph Lopez knocked down a triple each to hand Dinuba a 50-46 lead with 4 minutes and 30 seconds left in the game.
That proved to be the knockout punch as Dinuba closed the fourth period outscoring Redwood 17-5.
Ochoa finished the game with a game-high 19 points with three 3-pointers. The Emperors shot 8-for-23 from 3-point land.
"Josiah got hot for us at the right time," Schofield said. "The first three quarters, we didn't play our best but, you know, we tried to clear our minds and reset, 'If we play a good fourth quarter, we can win this game.' And that's what the boys did."
What's practice like for a 3-point shooting team?
"We definitely get a bunch of 3s up every day," Schofield said. "We try to make them as game-like as possible. It gets the kids moving. Sometimes, we bring in a stereo and play some music for them to get them going. It's a big part of what we do. Sometimes they go in and sometimes they don't, but we feel like even if we miss it, we can rebound it."
Under Schofield's watch, Dinuba is averaging 19 wins per season but since 2011, his teams have averaged 23.5 victories per campaign.
Excluding the impacted COVID-19 season, the Emperors have registered five straight 20-plus win seasons, including back-to-back 26-win runs.
In 2019, Dinuba made a deep run in the state playoffs, advancing to the CIF State Division V regional final before falling to Mt. Shasta 80-56. The Emperors were just a win away from playing for a state championship.
That winning culture starts with his coaching staff of varsity assistants Tim Rico, Ryan Cruise, Michael Bedoya, junior varsity coach Edward Bedoya and freshman coach Daniel Avila.
"We have a very consistent staff," Schofield said. "Our freshman coach has been the same forever. Our JV coach has been the same forever and my assistants on varsity so that's a huge thing. They all help out with our youth programs in the spring, so by the time they get to high school, they kind of know more or less what we're doing. It just provides for a lot of consistency. We're just trying to get better each year."
Torres, a senior, is one of the top players in Tulare County this season.
In the Redwood victory, Torres scored 16 points with two triples. He also had seven rebounds and five assists.
"He's great," Schofield said. "The great thing about him is you can coach him hard. He responds. You challenge him and he responds well, and he's a good leader of his teammates. He stays positive with them and doesn't make things worse on them. He's awesome."
Dinuba shot 34% from the 3-point field against Redwood. Michael Espirito also knocked down a pair of triples.
How fun is it to be a 3-point shooting team?
"It's a privilege, honestly," Torres said. "We work at it at practice. As long as we keep working on it at practice, we know we will knock it down. Whether it goes in or not, we know we did our best. It's just fun."
That kind of mentality starts with Schofield.
"He establishes confidence in each and every one of us," Torres said. "Not every season is going to be the same, you know. We have different players every year but he instills that confidence in us. He makes sure we get in the gym. He reminds guys to get in the gym. We just love to work and it shows."
Dinuba's win over Redwood gave the Emperors their 10th victory of the year.
What are the expectations for Dinuba this season?
"Our goal is to win a section championship," Schofield said. "We've been fortunate enough to win a few league championships, not last year, but the last few years. We've had a lot of wins but the one thing that has alluded us is a section championship. We lost in the semifinals last year to Arroyo Grande. We've been talking about closing the gap and making things better so we get over the hill."
This article originally appeared on Visalia Times-Delta: How 3-point shooting has transformed Dinuba into a powerhouse
