EL DORADO HILLS, Calif. – Sophomore Layla Hernandez amassed team highs of nine points and 13 rebounds while contributing to team totals of 11 steals and nine blocked shots, but St. Francis' JV Gold squad ultimately fell by a 47-31 final to Chico in the opening round of the Trojan Toss-Up at Oak Ridge Thursday.
The Troubadours' JV Red also played in the frosh version of the tourney, falling by a 48-8 score to Ponderosa earlier in the afternoon. Red evens its record to 3-3 overall while Gold moves to 5-6.
JV Gold trailed from wire-to-wire, with Chico sophomore Kayleigh Solano scoring four of her game-high 21 points to start the contest. The Troubies cut the deficit to 16-12 early in the second on buckets from Audrey Bashore and Natalia Zitelli, but the Panthers responded with a 12-1 run to amass a 28-13 advantage. SF trailed 33-15 at the break, and held Chico to just five points in the third, but never cut the margin into single digits.
Bashore added seven points while Lizzie David scored five, including a three-pointer in the third. Sophomore Annie Swanson chipped in seven rebounds while matching Hernandez and freshman Sienna Dukes with three steals. Bashore, Hernandez, Dukes and Abi Hall also swatted two shots apiece. Unfortunately, the defensive effors did not translate to offense, with the Troubies struggling with shooting (11-for-60) and ball control (24 turnovers). SF also made just 6 of 18 from the free-throw line.
JV Red took a 4-0 lead with freshman Lily Frei scoring back-to-back field goals in the opening minutes, but Pondo answered with 18 straight points to take an 18-4 lead by the 5:42 mark in the second. Frei and Grace Gustorf assisted Meredith Little for consecutive midranger jumpers in the second, but the Troubies trailed 23-8 at halftime and did not alter the scoreboard for the entirety of the second half.
Like JV Gold struggled with Chico's Solano, JV Red faced a size mismatch with Pondo freshman post Carmel Yablonovsky, who scored 21 points for the Bruins.
JV Gold will face Oak Ridge's JV Navy squad at 11 a.m. in Trojan Arena on Friday. JV Red will take on either Chico or Folsom at 10 a.m. in the auxilary gym. The Trojan Toss-Up, which features three levels, concludes on Saturday.
