SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Sophomore guard Nikki Sutliff-Soto scored 10 points off the bench, post Amanda Cloninger grabbed a team-high nine rebounds in her varsity debut, and the St. Francis defense held visiting Elk Grove to just 5.6 percent field-goal shooting in a 68-6 win over Elk Grove in Delta League girls' basketball action Tuesday night.

 

The Troubadours improve to 9-7 overall and even their league ledger at 1-1.

 

Sophomores Chidera Okoye and Brianna McGahan added nine points apiece for SFHS, which scored 16 unanswered points to start the game, not allowing a Thundering Herd bucket until Malia Kekahuna drained a three-pointer at the 7:10 mark in the second quarter. The Troubies led 29-5 at the halftime break and 54-6 through the third stanza, in all finishing the game on a 45-1 run across 21 minutes.

 

The 5-foot-11 Cloninger was summoned from the St. Francis junior varsity Gold team to provide more size on the front court. She pulled down four boards on the offensive end and five on defense while providing five points and a steal. Overall, the Troubies outrebounded the Herd by a 50-17 margin.

 

Sutliff-Soto hit 4-of-4 from the field and converted a three-point play in the fourth en route to her first double-digit performance since scoring a season-high 13 at Valley more than a month ealier.

 

In Friday's opener, freshman guard Sydney Teoh scored 20 points while sophomore Eva Karamanoukian added another 16 as the JV Gold rode a 29-0 halftime lead to a 55-4 final against Elk Grove's jayvee crew. The Troubies improve to 10-3 for the year.

 

Teoh, Karamanoukian and Mackenzie Tan each poured in three-pointers in a 21-0 first-quarter onslaught, the Karamanoukian and Teoh hit two more triples in the second frame to extend the margin. The Thundering Herd did not get on the board until the opening possession of the third, when freshman Rebekah Arpilleda sank an 18-footer from the left corner.

 

Tan finished with nine points and post Aubrey O'Donnell chipped in eight. Freshman point Mykaela Le accounted for the final bucket, scoring in transition late in the fourth.

 

The JV Red originally had a game scheduled against Christian Brothers as part of a home tripleheader, but the Falcons did not field a frosh squad this season and thus that game was canceled.

 

All three St. Francis teams return to action at home on Friday: the JV Red against El Dorado High at 4 p.m, followed by the JV Gold and varsity against Sheldon at 5:30 and 7 p.m., respectively.