ELK GROVE, Calif. — Junior guard Jo Jo Myers finished with team highs of 16 points and six steals, senior guard Carolina Ingenito added another 13 points while sophomore Brianna McGahan pulled down 11 rebounds, but St. Francis fell short in a comeback effort at Franklin, falling to the Wildcats by a final of 46-44 in Delta League varsity girls' basketball action Friday night.
The Troubadours, depleted to just seven total players, slip to 8-7 for the year and 0-1 in league play.
Friday's game also marked the team's first action since a December 30 home meeting with Rocklin, as the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic canceled one contest and postponed two others until later in the month. The available personnel sent McGahan and guard Jadyn Weaver from their usual perimeter spots into the frontcourt.
McGahan also chipped in seven points while Weaver finished with six point and seven boards.
The Troubies fell behind as much as a 17-9 deficit in the final minute of the first quarter before an Ingenito three-pointer followed by a Myers transition bucket closed the gap to 17-14. However, Franklin hit a long buzzer-beater to stretch its lead to 20-14 entering the second, and maintained at least a four-point cushion en route to a 28-20 lead at the halftime break.
St. Francis managed to narrow the gap to just two points twice before finally equalizing midway through the third. Ingenito knocked down a 15-footer from the right corner then later drew contact from beyond the arc. She hit two of the three free throws to bring the Wildcat lead to just 42-40.
Franklin's Megan Yee answered with two of her team-leading 16 points on the next trip down to restore the margin to four, then McGahan sank a 17-foot baseline jumper to again bring the Troubies to within two at 44-42. Myers posted yet another steal at the top of the Wildcat key, then scampered the full 60 feet for a fast-break bucket to tie the game at 44-44 with 3:30 left in the contest.
Franklin drew a foul in a scramble for a rebound, then Kaitlyn Juarros made the second attempt from the stripe, reclaiming the lead at 45-44 with 1:48 left. St. Francis shot 0-for-2 and committed two turnovers in its final three trips down the court. Juarros brought the score to its final of 46-44 in similar fashion as before: drawing a foul on an offensive rebound then hitting the second free throw.
Franklin also allowed St. Francis to stay in the hunt by missing nine of its last 11 free-throw attempts, compared to the 'Cats 5-for-6 from the line earlier in the game.
The Troubies struggled to just 2-for-27 from three-point range despite a solid 51.6 percent (16-for-31) from within the arc.
In Friday's opener in Elk Grove, the St. Francis junior varsity Gold squad pulled away to a 54-32 win over Franklin. Sianna Squires led offensively with 15 points, with post Amanda Cloninger (12) and guard Sydney Teoh (11) also scoring in double figures.
The JV Gold suffered from a slow start, scoring just 10 points in the first quarter and trailing early in the second before a 9-0 run propelled the Troubies to a 30-15 halftime lead. Squires hit five of her seven buckets in that pivotal second frame before the SFHS output balanced out in the second half. Squires, Teoh, Cloninger, Mackenzie Tan and Riley Walker each netted two baskets after the break.
The JV Gold team improves to 9-3 overall, also playing in its first action of the calendar year.
Meanwhile in Folsom, the all-freshman St. Francis JV Red team fell to Vista Del Lago by a final of 53-24. Lilian Vicio scored 17 of those 24 points, including a pair of three-pointers. The Troubies move to 10-3 for the season, with their last two losses coming at the hands of the Eagle frosh.
The St. Francis varsity and JV Gold return to action on Tuesday with a home doubleheader with Elk Grove, starting at 5:30. The JV Red originally intended to host Christian Brothers on that date, but the Falcons did not field a frosh team for 2021-22. Instead, the youngest Troubies will play next against El Dorado at home on Friday, Jan. 21.
