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Troubies finish league season as undefeated champs

Troubies finish league season as undefeated champs

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Senior Jadyn Weaver poured in a career-high 24 points on 10-for-23 from the floor, leading St. Francis to a 54-41 over Davis in the 2022-23 Delta League finale. The Troubadours close out the regular season with a 22-4 overall record and a perfect 12-0 mark in conference play, earning the program's 17th all-time league banner and the first since 2018.

The evening also served as the team's Senior Night. Weaver, Sophie Harris, Kyla Escalante, Emily Dusel and manager Jo Jo Myers were honored during a ceremony prior to the warmups.

Weaver's offensive output surpassed her previous best of 20, set against Kennedy back on December 15. She was the only SF player with double-digit scoring, as junior Brianna McGahan was second with eight points and sophomore Sydney Teoh added another five. Instead, the Troubies largely won it on defense: Davis' 6-foot-2 junior Tessa Schouten dominated the insdie with 24 points of her own, but the rest of the team managed just 17 – mostly on three-pointers (four). The Blue Devils also struggled from the free-throw line save for Schouten's contributions, sinking 1-for-15.

The Troubies never trailed in the contest, with Weaver scoring six points amidst a run of 10 unanswered that resulted in a 16-5 lead with 87 seconds left in the first period. Schouten scored 10 in the second frame to pull Davis to within a 26-22 deficit, but freshman Lexi London buried a three-pointer in the final minute to surge SF ahead to a 29-22 halftime lead.

Weaver then scored the first eight points after the break to extend the Troubie lead to 15 at 37-22. She hit corner threes at the 7:37 and 5:17 mark on feeds from Dusel and McGahan, respectively; while sandwiching in a pull-up jumper from the left elbow at 6:20. 

Davis managed to pull within eight points in the fourth on the heels of a 10-0 run, highlighted by three pointers from senior Malia Abrencia and Vidya Merchant. Schouten also scored twice in that stretch, bringing the Blue Devils to a 49-41 hole. However, with just 1:25 left, Davis was forced to foul to control the clock. McGahan made 3 of 4 on her two trips to the line,  pushing the lead back to double figures at 52-41. SF made stop after stop to freeze the Davis side of the scoreboard, sealing the win and the undefeated season.

This is the first year St. Francis varsity has gone undefeated in league play since 2015-16, when the Troubies beat Castro Valley for the NorCal Regional title. Impressively, basketball is the second Troubie sport this week to close out an undefeated league season, as soccer did the same – also against Davis – two days earlier.

The varsity win followed a 52-30 victory by the Troubies' JV Gold. Sophomore guard Mackenzie Tan wrapped up her season with 21 points while sophomore post Perpetua Nwaukoni added eight points, 12 rebounds and seven steals to earn the team's "Hard Hat" award for hustle.

Lilian Vicio added another 10 points for Gold, with Caitlyn Lee crashing the boards for six more rebounds. Tan's scoring surge featured a three-pointer to start the second period as part of a 15-0 overall SF run. That outburst flipped what had been an 8-6 Davis lead midway through the first frame to a commanding 21-8 edge by the 6:34 mark in the second.

St. Francis held a 26-12 lead at the break. Vicio and Nwaukoni each scored twice in the first to extend the lead to 40-20 through three quarters, then Tan and Vicio teamed up for three straight goals to start the fourth. 

The JV Gold closes out its season with a 21-3 overall record, while matching varsity's 12-0 league mark, all under the tutelage of coaches John Bashore and Melanie Perron, who were elevated from the all-frosh JV Red program in November.

The SF varsity will now await the pairings of the Sac-Joaquin Section playoffs. The Troubies will automatically be placed in the Division I bracket by virtue of winning the Delta League.