Hosting Ripon, it was a 46-38 win for the varsity Lady Cougars on the basketball court on Tuesday, Jan. 10. They also ran away with a road win, putting away Livingston on Thursday, 57-20.

“We honored senior foreign exchange student Emelie Bauch with an impromptu Senior Night,” head coach Joseph Dalpogetti noted of the Tuesday home game. “She is heading back to Germany this week, so we went ahead and let her have her moment. She was escorted by her host family and she was able to get her first start of the season.”

As a team, the varsity girls got off to a bit of a slow start. They were down quickly 4-0, and the Ripon lead built up to 12-4 before the girls were able to battle back and tie it up, 14-14, after the first quarter.

“The second quarter went back and forth with not much action until we ended the quarter on a 7-0 run capped by a Sammy Lang three-pointer to give us a 26-19 lead at the half,” the coach said. “The message at halftime was simple. If they are content to sit in a zone, then shoot with confidence.”

The Lady Cougars came out firing, hitting a trio of quick treys, one each from Macie Vickers, Kelsey Webster and Analise Silveira, as the host team went up by 14, forcing Ripon to take a timeout.

“They came out in man to man and we were able to push the lead to 20 by the end of the quarter, 45-25. Ripon scored the final few buckets of the game to close it to 12, but it was never closer than that.”

Macie Vickers paced the effort with 21 points, Sammy Lang had 11, followed by Analise Silveira with eight and Kelsey Webster with six.

“Thursday, we headed down to Livingston and got out of there with a running clock and a 57-20 win,” Dalpogetti noted. “We jumped on them early and led 20-2 at one point in the first, it was 36-12 at the half.”

The coach said the game was reminiscent of a contest there last season, when the Lady Cougars had a big lead, but Livingston battled back to make it close.

“At halftime we reminded ourselves of that and how we needed good energy in the third,” he explained. “They struggled to get anything going offensively and before I knew it the officials notified me it was going to be a running clock.”

The game featured plenty of energy from the varsity girls, said Dalpogetti.

“Probably one of our best performances of the year,” he said. “Freshman Madi Babasa had a great week for us. She played great defense in both games and sparked our press in each game. She contributed five points in the Livingston win.”

Leading the team in scoring once again was Vickers with 20 points and Lang added 15.

“Analise did a great job of relentlessly attacking the basket as well and finished with 11 points,” Dalpogetti said.

The girls were scheduled to play at Hughson on Tuesday, Jan. 17 and will close out the first round of TVL action hosting Hilmar on Thursday, Jan. 19.

“We are currently 12-5 overall and 3-1 in league,” the coach added. “Needless to say, it’s a big week for us and we will be ready to take it on one day at a time.”

JV GIRLS

At home to start the week, the young Lady Cougars took a 35-26 victory over Ripon. Aiden Hohenwarter paced the solid effort with a 17-point night.

They also took the win on the road, defeating Livingston on Thursday. Ayana Cocio put in 17 points while Lily Brasil added 15 points in the win.