Closing out the preseason with a win against Ceres, Escalon’s varsity basketball girls then battled an extremely tough Riverbank squad on the road Thursday, capturing a win there.
They hosted the Ceres Bulldogs on Tuesday, Jan. 2 and came away with a 44-27 decision.
“We jumped on them 9-2 in the opening minutes but then battled through some foul trouble and a rolled ankle that had to be taped and we sputtered to halftime and only led 20-14,” explained head coach Joseph Dalpogetti of the final non-league contest of the campaign. “We had a good third quarter to expand the lead and eventually pushed it to a 22-point lead late in the fourth.”
They were able to then hold off a determined Bulldogs team for the 17-point victory.
“Wasn’t pretty basketball but a win is a win and we will take them any way they come,” said the coach. “Ceres is a very athletic team. We talked about just being solid from the tip. Our defense did just that, holding a varsity opponent to under 30 is always a good sign your defense was locked in.”
Pacing the team was Sammy Lang with 10 points, 11 rebounds, four assists and four steals.
Chloe Farley had 10 points and 15 rebounds; Ari Velasco had 12 points, nine rebounds, three steals, four assists and three blocks while Ayana Cocio added some good minutes off the bench, hitting for nine points.
“On Thursday night we had a much-anticipated match up with an incredibly talented Riverbank team,” Dalpogetti said of the league opener on the road. “Chancis Gamez is a very gifted point guard, Rayne Tago is a dominant post, and Taylor Macias is a premiere shooter.”
Riverbank came in to the game with a 10-3 overall record while Escalon had no losses in preseason or tournament play.
“Their three losses came to basketball powerhouses,” Dalpogetti noted of the Lady Bruins. “Manteca, del Oro and Maria Carrillo. They avenged their Manteca loss already this season, too. We knew it was going to be a tough match up as we went 0-3 against Riverbank last season. Twice in league and once in the Section semifinals.”
Escalon had a strong first quarter to lead it 17-9 but Riverbank turned the tables with a 20-8 run in the second to lead it 29-25 at halftime.
“We were scrambling too much defensively and their guards are talented enough to find the open man underneath and they burned us on it for several baskets in the quarter,” explained Dalpogetti.
Cleaning up the defense in the third, Escalon was able to take the lead back, 39-36, as the fourth quarter got underway.
“We trailed much of the fourth quarter,” the coach admitted. “Once by five. We trailed by four with 51 seconds to go. They took a 3 that could have ended the game with 13 seconds left as we were down 51-50 but it missed and Sammy came down with the rebound.”
Lang then pushed the ball and Dalpogetti said he was getting ready to call a timeout if she stalled, but instead Lang pushed over half court and kept the play alive.
“She crossed to the right side of the lane and we decided just to roll with it because the defense was scrambling and she hit it off the glass with seven seconds left.”
That put the visiting Lady Cougars up by one, 52-51 with just a few ticks of the clock left.
“Riverbank called a timeout … they took a shot with one second left that hit the side of the backboard and went out of bounds and was our ball,” the coach said. “There was some confusion on the play call out of the timeout. All we had to do was secure a pass and the clock would expire. We threw it deep and got called for a questionable foul on the inbound so Riverbank had two free throws to win the game or force overtime on a split.”
However, neither shot went in for the host Lady Bruins, with Lang and Farley ganging up to corral the rebound of the second free throw to secure the win.
“It was an incredible game that had multiple lead changes and changes in momentum,” said Dalpogetti. “It was a lot of fun to be a part of.”
Lang had 25 points in the league opener, also adding 13 rebounds, one assist, three blocks and four steals. Velasco had eight rebounds and eight assists.
This week, the girls were to be on the road at Ripon Christian on Tuesday, Jan. 9 and host Ripon on Thursday, Jan. 11.
