SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Senior Brianna McGahan scored a team-best 18 points, junior Sydney Teoh added another 13 and sophomore Lexi London drained two of her three three-point field goals to erase what had been as much as an 11-point deficit, but St. Francis surrendered a steal and a go-ahead three-pointer in the final seconds of the game to drop a 60-57 heartbreaker in the annual "Holy Hoops" girls' basketball rivalry game against Christian Brothers Saturday night.
The Troubadours fall to 8-10 for the season. The Falcons are now 13-4 overall.
London finished 4-of-4 from the floor, including 3-for-3 from outside the arc for another 11 points. Her third trey, at 4:12 in the third period, pushed SF ahead by a 39-38 margin, its first lead since the opening minute of the game. McGahan added seven rebounds and two blocks to her scoring total.
Overall, the Troubies hit 6 of 9 from long range and committed just 14 turnovers in the entire contest, yet it was a giveaway and a three-point shot that unraveled their comeback efforts earlier in the game. SF had trailed by 31-20 with three minutes left in the first half, then 34-28 at the break. But London's two bombs and Teoh's six points in the paint resulted in a 47-42 Troubie lead heading into the fourth period. The Troubies protected that margin for most of the fourth, even taking a four-point, 57-53 lead when McGahan made the back end of her trip to the line with just 27 ticks remaining.
But CB's Joy Omishakin converted a second-chance layup at 0:14. The Troubadours only needed to inbound the ball cleanly, as the Falcons had expended its bonus foul earlier in the frame. Instead, CB freshman Olivia Novi stole the inbound pass, then set up Aleyah Harmon for the go-ahead three with seven seconds left.
The game-winner was the Falcon's ninth made three-pointer of the contest, although six came before the halftime break. Harmon finished with 19 points, Omishakin had 14 and Novi had four threes in the first half toward her 12-point performance.
In addition to its top three scorers, St. Francis received seven points and a team-leading 10 rebounds from senior Chidera Okoye, whose successful three-point play began the comeback late in the second period.
The varsity loss followed a 46-28 win for JV Gold in its portion of the Holy Hoops event. Freshman Audrey Bashore drained a pair of three-pointers en route to a team-best 14 points, sophomore Reese Walker scored 10 points with six rebounds, and freshman Layla Hernandez tallied eight points, 15 rebounds, three steals and two blocked shots.
The two junior varsity squads battled closely in the first half, with the Troubies heading to the break with a 17-15 lead. SF crafted as much as a 17-9 edge before CB rallied with six unanswered later in the second period. Still, Bashore scored seven points plus an assist to Hernandez in a 17-2 overall run in the third, including her corner three from Annie Swanson at the 5:25 mark. Walker came up with back-to-back weakside rebound and putback scores, as SF entered the fourth with a 16-point edge, 34-18.
Bashore added five more points in the final frame, repeating the Swanson-assisted three from the previous quarter. Christian Brothers failed to score a field goal in the fourth, managing all of its points from the line. Abigail Hall and Lauren Herbelin teamed up to two buckets in the final minutes, including one of an offensive rebound featuring Hall leaping beyond the baseline to save the possession.
JV Gold has now won six straight games, improving to 11-7 for the year. Meanwhile, JV Red lost its fifth straight, falling to Pleasant Valley in Saturday's opener. Jocelyn Villaflor converted an assist from Meredith Little to open the contest, then she scored another on a steal near the end of the second period. Still, the 12-4 Vikings' size and experience advantage truly revealed itself in the middle frames, with PV expoding to a 45-7 lead. However, SF enjoyed some highlights in the fourth, with blocks by Lily Frei and Villaflor helping keep the Vikings scoreless. Additionally, Julianne Nguyen scored her first basket as a Troubie with 1:20 left in the game. The 5-foot freshman heaved a three-pointer from the right side to push her team into double digits.
The varsity and JV Gold teams resume Delta League action at home against Elk Grove on Wednesday. JV Red has more than a week off from competiton before joining JV Gold at Folsom on January 23.
