Escalon’s varsity basketball girls were winners of two contests this past week, defeating Big Valley and Tokay.
The Lady Cougars put away Big Valley by a 66-19 final on Tuesday, Dec. 7. They ran out to a 24-3 lead in the first quarter and were up 38-9 at the half. Another strong quarter in the third saw them put 23 points on the board to Big Valley’s 8 for what turned out to be an insurmountable 61-17 edge. They had a 5-2 scoring edge in the final frame for the lopsided win.
Leading the varsity squad were Macie Vickers with 23 points and also in double figures was Marissa Silva with 10.
“Our press was getting to them in the first quarter and we built up a healthy lead and never looked back,” said head coach Joseph Dalpogetti.
Hosting Tokay in the EHS gym on Thursday, Dec. 9, they took a 57-28 win.
Vickers paced the effort with 13 points; Soleil Gouzenne and Kelsey Webster put in 10 points apiece.
“Rachel Farley dominated the rebounds,”Dalpogetti said. “We got off to a little bit of a slow start because it was the first time we had seen a couple of their alignments. But once we figured them out, our pressure was able to turn them over and we could get out in transition.”
Preseason action continues for the varsity girls; they were slated to play at Manteca on Tuesday, Dec. 14 after The Times went to press and are also scheduled to be on the road for a Thursday, Dec. 16 game at Denair.
With the wins this past week, the girls improved to 8-1-1 but Dalpogetti said they would get a good idea of “where we really stand” after taking on a tough Valley Oak League team in Manteca.
JUNIOR VARSITY
Taking the court for a home game on Thursday night, Dec. 9 hosting Tokay, it was a 20-point margin of victory for the young Lady Cougars, topping the visiting team 52-32.
“Sammy Lang led us with 22 points. Brittany Gomez hit three three’s and finished with 11 and Ashley Titsworth had six,” said head coach Sam Baez.
“We started the game very slow with cold shooting. We opened up the second half with a 23-point third quarter to blow the lead open.”
The JV girls improved to 4-0 with the non-league win over Tokay and have games this week against Manteca and Denair.
