DAVIS, Calif. – Junior Brianna McGahan amassed team highs of 15 points and six steals while Chidera Okoye, Sydney Teoh and Lexi London also added double-digit offense, as St. Francis rolled past Davis, 66-44, in the varsity nightcap of a Delta League girls' basketball doubleheader Tuesday.
The Troubadours, ranked No. 7 in Monday's 49ers Cal-Hi Sports poll, improve to 13-3 overall and 3-0 in league play. They followed a 61-36 St. Francis victory in the junior varsity opener. The JV Gold moves to 10-4 for the year.
McGahan scored the lion's share of her offense in the final stretch of the game, scoring the Troubies' final nine points of the game. That run included a corner three with 2:50 left, plus a pair of free throws after drawing a foul in transition with 45 ticks remaining.
Okoye scored another 14 points while adding three steals and a team-leading six rebounds. Teoh chipped in 11 points, while London shot 2-for-4 from three-point range en route to her 10 points in her 15 minutes off the bench.
The Troubies never trailed in the contest, with Emily Dusel assisting Okoye just 18 seconds after the opening tip. Davis junior Tessa Schouten had a chance to equalize when she drew a foul on a bucket with 6:42 in the first period, but she missed on the and-one shot to equalize. Instead, SF scored three straight across the next minute and a half: Jadyn Weaver hit a pull-up jumper from the free-throw line then finished on a feed from Dusel to make it 10-3 at the 4:31 mark.
St. Francis led 20-11 after the first eight minutes, saw its lead diminish to six on Schouten's three-pointer with 6:11 left in the second quarter, but finished on an 11-2 run to hold a 33-18 lead at the halftime break. The Troubies never allowed their hosts to closer than 12 points in the second half. Schouten hit a putback after her second-chance attempt was blocked by Weaver, pulling the Blue Devils to within a 37-25 deficit at 4:26 in the third. However, the Troubies responded with 10 unanswered, with both Teoh and London hitting three-pointers and blocking a shot during that run. Teoh capped the third quarter with assists to McGahan and Dusel in the final 36 seconds, boosting SF to a 51-27 edge going into the finale.
Schouten, one week removed from her 30-point performance against Vacaville, poured in 12 points in the fourth, but the Troubies steadily kept the Devils out of reach. Okoye scored twice, London pulled up for a 10-footer, then McGahan went on her nine-point spree to finish.
Appropriately, McGahan hails from Davis, having arrived at St. Francis by way of St. James, located across West 14th Street by the DSHS campus.
The varsity win was preceded by a dominating JV Gold victory, in which the Troubies scored 24 unanswered to start. McKenzie Tan matched her career high of 23 points, including 14 in the first quarter. St. Francis led 30-6 by the midpoint of the second quarter and 32-14 at halftime.
Sophomore point Karly Okamoto netted all four of her field goals in the first half, then Reese Walker scored eight of her 12 total points after the break.
Both JV Gold and varsity return to action on Saturday for the annual "Holy Hoops" rivalry matchup at Christian Brothers. The games tip at 4:30 and 6 p.m., respectively, having moved up one hour from previous versions of the schedule. The Troubies-Falcons contest also marks the final non-league basketball game of the regular season.
