SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Senior Brianna McGahan posted a double-double of 12 points and 11 rebounds while junior Sydney Teoh followed close behind with 11 points, but St. Francis shot just 26 percent from the floor in dropping a 51-63 decision to Franklin in a pivotal Delta League girls' basketball game Wednesday night.
The Troubadours fall to 10-12 for the season, but more crucially, slip to 5-3 in league play. Meanwhile, the Wildcats improve to 7-2 to retain a share of first place in the standings. Cosumnes Oaks, which has two losses to SF, rolled past Elk Grove on Wednesday night to move to 7-2.
St. Francis clung to a 14-13 lead after the first period but fell behind by a 21-18 margin at the break, thanks to a pair of three-pointers from Franklin senior Ellyana Estacio in the second. The deficit grew to double figures by the end of the third until Teoh drained a three-pointer from the left side at 6:50 to close the gap to 40-31. Unfortunately, Olivia Nicolas matched that trey on the other end to kick off a 9-2 run that sank the Troubies into a 49-33 hole. Furthermore, Teoh's shot was the last field goal by any SF player until McGahan knocked down a three at the 1:04 mark.
McGahan's 11 boards trailed Chidera Okoye by one for the team lead. Okoye scored seven points of her own, including a three-pointer in the opening frame. But SF managed just 14-for-53 overall, and even struggled on shots in the paint.
The varsity loss followed a dominating 46-19 win for the St. Francis JV Gold squad. Freshman Audrey Bashore shot 2-for-3 from outside the three-point arc en route to 10 points, Reese Walker added eight points and Nevaeh Gavino chipped in another seven – all after the halftime break. Layla Hernandez continued her season on the boards by grabbing a team-best nine rebounds. Defensively, the Troubies held the Wildcats to just two points in the third stanza.
Wednesday's action was a tripleheader, with JV Red falling by a 50-12 final to Del Oro in the opener. Jocelyn Villaflor scored eight points, including a spectacular runner cross the key in the final minute; while Meredith Little hit back-to-back field goals to kick off the Troubie scoring in the second. This is JV Red's second of three total meetings with the Golden Eagles, who improved to 25-1 overall.
St. Francis varsity and JV Gold continue Delta League play in a road doubleheader at Elk Grove on Friday, starting at 5:30 p.m. JV Red rematches with DO at Bonner Gym on Thursday at 6 p.m. One highlight on the Troubie schedule is the annual Parochial Athletic League basketball tournament on Saturday and Sunday, an event that features eight of the middle schools that feed into the SF student population.
