SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Junior forward Jadyn Weaver drained four three-pointers as part of her team-leading 16 points as St. Francis to a 52-31 win over Pleasant Grove in Delta League girls' varsity basketball action at the SFHS Gym Wednesday night. 

 

The Troubadours improve to 14-10 overall and 7-4 in league play, which strengthens their third-place footing in the standings and their positioning for the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section playoffs. The contest also served as Senior Night, with the team honoring Oge Okoye, Carolina Ingenito, Zahra Smith, Raquel Smith and manager Arianna Ross prior to tip.

 

A majority of Weaver's output came in a 20-1 run during the second quarter that flipped a 6-4 deficit into a commanding 24-7 halftime lead. Sophomore Bria McGahan kick-started that stretch with a 10-foot baseline jumper to start the quarter. She later drew contact and made both free throws, then teamed with Weaver on a steal-and-score combination at the 3:50 mark. Ingenito also scored twice in the initial outburst, which put the Troubies up by a 14-7 margin.

 

Weaver hit a corner three and a bomb from the top of the key down the stretch of the second. Pleasant Grove opened the second half with six unanswered before Okoye's layup broke up the scoreless stretch at the five-minute mark. Junior guard Jo Jo Myers buried a trey at the 4:25 mark to make it 29-15, then Zahra Smith fed Emily Dusel on a drive to bump the lead to 16 points with two minutes left in the third.

 

As she had in the second frame, Weaver hit back-to-back threes in the final 80 seconds to extend the St. Francis advantage to 37-15.

 

Guard Anne Sale contributed on three consecutive buckets in the fourth quarter to help maintain the Troubie lead. She assisted Zahra Smith and Myers in the paint, then made the highlight reel on a bucket of her own. She juked right then drove left on a lay-up at the 4:10 mark. That set the board at 44-25 in SF's favor. Raquel Smith also stepped in for a pair of scores in the final quarter. She ranked as one of the team's leading scorers early in the season was sidelined by injury throughout January and early February.

 

The varsity win followed a decisive 60-18 victory by the St. Francis junior varsity Gold squad against the PG jayvees. Sydney Teoh poured in 13 points in the first half then added two three-pointers as part of an eight-point third frame to lead the scoring. Emma Karamanoukian hit three treys and Mackenzie Tan scattered 11 points throughout the game.

 

The JV Gold led 32-13 at the halftime break and outscored its guest by a 15-1 margin in the fourth en route to its 21st win of the year. The Troubies also improve to 11-0 against the Delta League.

 

Finally, the St. Francis JV Red capped its 2021-22 season with a 45-34 loss to the Vista Del Lago frosh squad, a team that had handed the youngest Troubies a 53-24 earlier in the year. Lilian Vicio scored exactly half of SF's 34 points, including three three-pointers to help turn a 10-6 deficit into a 22-20 halftime edge.

 

Head JV Red coach John Bashore credited his team's work on its man-to-man defense and its zone press for pushing the Eagles throughout the game. "We came up short, despite a winning effort," he said. "I could not be prouder of the successful season they had this year. The girls showed a tremendous amount of grit, determination and resilience in a season full of ups and downs due to COVID.

 

"We started the season focusing on these three goals: play hard, play smart and play together. They met these goals every game," Bashore said. 

 

The SFHS varsity and JV Gold teams will wrap up the regular season in a road doubleheader at Sheldon on Friday. The varsity team will learn of its section postseason fate when the CIF-SJS announces its pairings early next week.