Knowing it would happen at some point this season, Escalon’s varsity Lady Cougars took a loss on the basketball court. They fell at home to Hughson during a Thursday, Jan. 18 game, said head coach Joseph Dalpogetti, and it was their first loss of the season. It also came in between a pair of Trans-Valley League wins, Tuesday and Friday.

“Tuesday (Jan. 16) we headed down to Livingston and beat the Wolves 73-26. We just seemed to have everything clicking after the first few minutes,” said Dalpogetti. “They actually led us three times in the opening minutes, 3-2, 5-4, and 7-6, but we went on close to a 30-3 run from that point on and led 44-14 at the break.”

The varsity girls used their press to force turnovers and get some run out lay ups.

Madison Babasa led all scorers with 25 points on the night, followed by Arianna Velasco with 16 and Sammy Lang with 15.

“Thursday, we hosted Hughson. They just simply outplayed us for 32 minutes,” Dalpogetti admitted of the team losing for the first time this season. “We didn’t execute the stuff we worked on at practice and they did and that was the story of the game.”

Escalon still had three players in double figures in the 61-53 loss; Velasco with 15, Babasa with 12 and Lang with 10.

“Despite having our worst performance of the season we gave ourselves chances late, we just could not sustain a run,” the coach explained. “Our defense has been our backbone all season and it just seemed to be non-existent.”

Perhaps in a good turn of fate, the girls were back on the court quickly.

“We didn’t have much time to dwell on it; we had to turn around and play Friday for Homecoming at 5:30 p.m.,” said Dalpogetti. “It was awesome to be a part of it and play in front of a crowd for once. We are used to playing in empty gyms besides a few games per season. I hope it’s a new tradition that we are included on Homecoming Night.”

The varsity girls hosted Hilmar in the contest and got back on the winning track with a 54-30 decision. Escalon reached the 20-win plateau for the season with the Friday night victory.

“Hilmar plays fast paced full court man to nan and run on offense,” said Dalpogetti. “I thought that played in our favor and we led 15-4 after the first quarter. They quickly went zone like just about everyone has against us this season.”

Escalon still maintained a solid 29-13 lead at the break.

“It seemed like our missed lay ups wanted to follow us from Thursday night to Friday but that’s just how it goes sometimes,” the coach added. “We eventually pushed the lead to 30 before winning 54-30.”

Babasa had 13 points in the win, Lang and Velasco each chipped in with 12.

“The first loss of the season definitely stung, but 27-0 is just unlikely for anyone at any level,” Dalpogetti said. “We would much rather see our shortcomings right now and address them before the postseason.”

Escalon ended the week at 20-1 overall, 5-1 in league play.

“That makes it three straight 20-win seasons,” Dalpogetti pointed out. “We are 5-1 in the TVL and in a three-way tie with Riverbank and Hughson.”

They will host Riverbank in a pivotal league game on Thursday, Jan. 25 at 7 p.m.

JV

With a split of their two games this week, the junior varsity girls lost on the road but came back to win at home.

They were at Livingston for a Jan. 16 contest and fell 47-34.

“We had a slow first half, we missed a lot of good opportunities to score, we did have some great outside shots but it wasn’t enough to put us ahead,” said coach Tanae McCurley. “We came out knowing every game we need to play better defensively than the game before. Carli Jones never disappoints defensively as she had seven rebounds and seven blocks, followed by Taylor Kjellberg and Tyli Holback’s six rebounds.”

Jayci Trimble had 13 points, five rebounds and two assists; Kylie Fast had nine points, four rebounds, three steals and two assists; Lilly Brasil added six points, five rebounds and two assists.

“All of the girls did great hitting the boards this game which is what we have really been focusing on,” McCurley said.

Thursday, the girls were on the home court and held off Hughson by a 31-27 final.

Trimble had eight points, 10 rebounds, three blocks, two steals and one assist; Fast had 13 points; Jones had seven rebounds and four blocks, Holback added seven points and four steals to go along with two assists.

“This was a great game and a game we knew we needed to win after Tuesday’s game against Livingston,” the coach noted. “We knew that Hughson had some great offensive and defensive players and we needed to shut them down. Our team ran an amazing defense and played as a unit, never giving up.”

It was a game where all the little pieces fell into place.

“My team knew they had to run our offense, be patient and find their teammates,” McCurley explained. “Kylie Fast found her groove this game, leading us with 13 points. We were back and forth points at the end but my team stayed composed, ran the offense, made the baskets we needed, never gave up defensively and were able to pull ahead and win the game.”

The JV girls were slated to be at Hilmar for a game on Jan. 22 and play home Thursday against Riverbank, Jan. 25 at 5:30 p.m.

“I’m so proud of my girls,” McCurley said. “They left it all on the court and played as a solid unit.”