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Wins Fill Scorebook For Lady Cougar Basketball
Clock
Several varsity players take a quick look at the scoreboard clock during a time out huddle in previous action on the Cougar basketball court. The varsity and JV girls both earned a pair of wins this past week. Marg Jackson/The Times

An overwhelming win over Franklin of Stockton and a victory against Rio Vista saw the varsity basketball girls improve on their preseason record.

They hosted Franklin on Dec. 22 and took a 51-8 win off the court.

Up just 7-2 after the first frame, some adjustments saw the team outscore their opponents 22-4 in the second to take a 29-6 lead at the half.

“We came out a little flat in the first quarter but after a little “wake up call” during the huddle between quarters I think they got the message they needed to play harder,” head coach Joseph Dalpogetti explained. “We outscored Franklin 39-6 in the middle two quarters before a running clock led to a quick fourth.”

Leading the scoring were Marissa Silva and Rachel Farley, 11 points apiece; Macie Vickers and Kelsey Webster each had nine points.

Thursday, Dec. 23 the girls hosted Rio Vista and won that game by a 41-19 final.

“It was a last second game due to Amador cancelling because of COVID-related issues,” said Dalpogetti. “Rio Vista took the game with only a few days notice. They had a few girls out of town so they showed up with only five varsity players.”

Escalon had a 13-5 lead after the first quarter, 27-6 at the half and outscored the visitors 14-13 in the second half.

“I had seen them on film and they like to play slow so I wanted to speed the game up anyway, but especially since they didn’t have any subs we wanted to press and trap and run as much as possible,” said the coach.

Escalon was up 21-6 when one of the Rio Vista players got injured with about two minutes remaining in the first half.

“We finished the half playing five on four, but a JV player stepped up and finished the game with varsity so we could play five on five.”

Due to the situation, they also agreed to go to a running clock when Escalon went up by 30 points, leading to a fast second half.

The varsity is off this week; Dalpogetti said he tried to get a couple of fill in games following cancellation of the Linden Tournament (due to lack of officials) and will use the time instead to practice as they get ready for Trans-Valley League play.

“We need to clean a few things up and fix some weaknesses and get better at our strengths before league play,” assessed Dalpogetti. “Every team in the TVL is well coached and will come at you with everything they’ve got. We are excited for the challenge.”

 

JUNIOR VARSITY

Two wins for the JV girls also went on the books, 41-11 over Franklin and 41-18 over Rio Vista. Sammy Lang was in double figures against Franklin, leading the JV girls with 13 points, and came back with a 12-point effort the following night against Rio Vista. Chloe Fraser was also in double figures with 10 points. The JV girls entered the Christmas-New Year break with a 10-0 record.