FOLSOM, Calif. – Freshman Layla Hernandez recorded her sixth double-double of the season with 16 points and 16 rebounds, but St. Francis fell off pace in the nightcap of a rare junior varsity doubleheader at Folsom Tuesday night. Hernandez' JV Gold squad lost to the Bulldogs, 54-40, while the Troubadours' JV Red fell to the Folsom frosh by a 56-7 final.
JV Gold snaps a nine-game winning streak to move to 13-8 overall. JV Red slips to 3-8 for the year.
Hernandez' output on the boards marks her 10th game with double-figure rebounds, and her highest since pulling down a career-high 18 at McClatchy on December 12. Sophomore Reese Walker added 10 points, including a three-pointer off the glass early in the third period.. Unfortunately, Folsom sophomore Belle Marshall netted a game-high 18 points while the Troubies struggled to less than 25 percent shooting overall (15-for-61).
Despite the final margin, SF enjoyed a comeback rally in the second period, with Walker assisting Hernandez on a score, blocking a Laney Warrington shot on the other end, then converting a putback as part of an 8-0 run. Lauren Herbelin banked a shot along the right edge of the paint at the 4:40 mark, cutting the deficit to just 19-18.
Unfortunately for the Troubies, Bulldog freshman Sam Morales answered on the next possession, then later buried a three-pointer at the 2:59 mark to push her team back up by two possessions at 24-19. Folsom led 27-21 at halftime, then surged ahead by nine with the first of two Taylor Fike three-pointers in the third period. Fike's second trey, on Marshall's pass to the corner, extended the Bulldog lead to 35-24. St. Francis trailed by double digits for the remainder of the game.
The Troubies continued to battle through the fourth, with Annie Swanson drawing multiple trips to the free-throw line, Audrey Bashore connecting on an 18-foot pull-up, and Hernandez pounding away for three buckets down low during the final six minutes of the contest. But Marshall scored six in the fourth and Warrington converted 4 of 4 from the stripe to keep their guests out of reach.
A depleted JV Red failed to score in the second half in Tuesday's opener, but managed a career-high five points from freshman Amelin Pragasam. The 5-foot-1 guard put her team on the board on a pass from Meredith Little at 4:54 in the first, then turned a Jocelyn Villaflor into her second three-pointer of the year in the final minute before the break. Morgane Bertran scored the remaining Troubie bucket, thanks to her midrange jumper earlier in the second period.
Still, Folsom led 37-7 at halftime and extended its edge to 50-7 before the running clock took effect in the fourth.
The JV-only twinbill is part of an unusual overall week for the Troubie basketball program, with only a Thursday night league game on tap for the varsity squad – a departure from the usual Wednesday and Friday action. JV Gold and varsity travel to Cosumnes Oaks that night for a 5:00/6:30 p.m. doubleheader, while JV Red heads to El Dorado for a 4 p.m. game on Friday.
