A hard fought contest against Central Catholic on Thursday went to the visitors, taking down host Escalon 37-30 in varsity girls basketball action.
Tied 15-15 at the half in the April 22 contest, head coach Joseph Dalpogetti said Central eventually came away with the victory.
“We got out to a small lead early in the third but ended up down one,” he said of holding the slim lead entering the final frame. “We only had two subs available during the first half and that dropped to one for the second half and Central picked us up full court for the 32 minutes and wore us down eventually.”
Brooke Campbell paced the team in scoring with 13 points on the night. Macie Vickers had seven at the half but sat out with an injury in the second half.
“The girls played tough,” Dalpogetti added.
Friday night, they traveled to face off with Central and again took a loss, this time falling to the Lady Raiders by a 49-40 final.
“Brooke paced us again with 20 points and Macie was able to play the whole game and finished with 12. Kelsey Webster finished with five.”
Campbell and Ryilee McNulty are the two seniors on this year’s team. Four juniors, Madison Biedermann, Soleil Gouzenne, Rachel Farley and Hannah Luna, are also on the roster along with sophomore Webster and freshman Vickers.
“We only have two seniors and even those two are being introduced to a new offensive system this year so we are going to experience some growing pains no matter if you’re a freshman or a senior,” the coach noted.
For the two games this past week with Central, the team was without key returner Gouzenne, said Dalpogetti, so they are “excited to get her back this week” to play at full strength.
The JV team was able to win both games over Central, playing with no subs, and were even down to fewer players than the traditional five late in the second game due to players fouling out.
“We are going to combine levels this week since Ripon Christian has only varsity,” said Dalpogetti. “It will be a good experience to blend the teams and bond and have some subs.”
The teams will travel to Ripon Christian for a Thursday game, April 29 and then host the Lady Knights on Friday, April 30.
