SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Junior Chidera Okoye posted a double-double of 13 points and 12 rebounds, but St. Francis fell to a 12-point deficit in the first three minutes before ultimately losing to Christian Brothers by a final of 55-32 in the varsity nightcap of Saturday's "Holy Hoops" girls' basketball doubleheader at Limeberger Gymnasium.
The Troubadours, ranked No. 7 in the area by 49ers Sac Hi Sports, move to 13-4 for the year. The No. 4 Falcons, coming off their first lost of the season to Vista Del Lago on Friday, improve to 15-1 overall.
Okoye shot 6-for-11 from the field, but St. Francis collectively hit just 12 of 55 for a 21.8 percent success rate for the game, including 1-for-15 (.066) from three-point range. Senior Jadyn Weaver and junior Brianna McGahan added another six points each. Sophomore point guard Sydney Teoh scored five, all from the free-throw line, and had all four of her team's assists.
CB senior Jada Hunter scored 23 points, including seven in her team's 12-0 start to the contest. Okoye finally got the Troubadours on the board on a third-chance score at 4:58 in the first, then scored on a drive and an and-one free throw a minute later. St. Francis trailed, 24-8, through the first.
Both teams went scoreless for more than five minutes of the second period before Okoye's coast-to-coast score set the board at 24-10 at the 2:26 mark. Still, the Troubies never closed the gap by less than that 14-point margin, falling behind by 31-12 at halftime and 45-21 through three. The Falcons opened the fourth on a 9-2 run to take their largest lead of 31, or 54-23, on a Hunter fast break.
The Troubies rallied for nine late points in the final three minutes, with Teoh assisting McGahan and Weaver on back-to-back field goals before going to the line for a pair of makes. Weaver knocked down SF's lone three-pointer with 1:07 left in the game to make it 55-32.
The varsity setback stood in contrast to St. Francis' Junior Varsity Gold squad, which enjoyed in a dominating second quarter to claim a 46-23 in Saturday's opener. Guards Mackenzie Tan and Colleen Medina each scored 13 points, including nine apiece in that pivotal second. After both the Troubies and Falcons locked up in a 5-4 defensive battle in the first, SF pulled away to a 29-7 halftime lead.
Tan scored two more in the third – a baseline jumper at 5:15 and a runner with 43 ticks left – to help the Troubies maintain a 34-13 edge heading into the finale. After Medina opened the fourth with a steal and bucket, CB responded with seven unanswered to trim the SF lead to 16 at 36-20. But Medina assisted Reese Walker on a score, then knocked down a goal of her own in the paint to push the advantage back to 20. Lucia Vicio and Caitlyn Lee drained late threes to ice the victory.
Despite this offensive production, JV Gold head coach John Bashore cited the defense for the win: the Troubies held leading scorer Anecia Trujillo to just one point, while gifted sophomore post Sofia Salazar managed field goals in the first and fourth only. Trujjillo and Salazar entered the night averaging 12.6 and 9.4 points per game, respectively. Lee did her part on the defensive end of the stat sheet with six rebounds under the Falcon net and three blocked shots, including back-to-back midway through the first period.
St. Francis varsity and JV Gold return to Delta League play, hosting Cosumnes Oaks on Tuesday.
