FOLSOM, Calif. – Sophomore Tayli Paeu-Lindgren notched her fifth straight double-double with 13 points and 12 rebounds while senior Sydney Teoh and junior Laila Mendoza added seven and six points, respectively, but St. Francis dropped a 53-36 decision to Pleasant Valley in the first round of the Folsom-Vista Winter Classic high school girls' basketball tournament at Folsom High Thursday.
The Troubadours even their record to 3-3 for the year. The Vikings improve to 5-2, with their third victory against a member of the Sierra Foothill League, along with Davis (Dec. 6) and Whitney (Dec. 10).
Paeu-Lindgren and Mendoza combined for 8-for-16 shooting, mostly in the paint, although Paeu-Lindgren knocked down her first varsity three-pointer with three minutes remaining in the contest as the game's final score. However, the remainder of the SF roster hit just 6 of 35 from the floor, including 2 of 13 from beyond the three-point arc.
Sophomore Layla Hernandez also played a career-high 29 minutes and chipped in five points and five boards in the process.
The Troubies fell into an early 14-2 run during the first five minutes of the contest, with Mendoza's layup at the 6:20 mark providing her team's only scoring. That deficit grew to 19-6 by the end of the opening period, then 27-8 with 2:02 left in the half. Paeu-Lindgren's baby hook with a minute to go and Lexi London's drive helped SF close the gap to 27-12 at halftime. Paeu-Lindgren then assisted Hernandez to start a three-point play just nine ticks after the break, then Paeu-Lindgren's putback reduced the PV lead to 27-17.
Mendoza later scored back-to-back, in the form of a turnaround bank shot at 6:59 and a drive across the right-side block at 6:27, bringing the Troubies to within a 30-21 hole, their smallest gap since midway through the first period. Then the Vikings stormed to a 16-2 run for the next six minutes. Senior Jada Nelms sank a corner three and followed with a 19-footer from the same spot down the stretch of the third to increase her team's lead to 46-23.
St. Francis managed to rally for 11 points in the fourth, with London and Teoh each hitting threes. Paeu-Lindgren, who swatted Kabrey Cooper's shot in between her teammates' treys, made 2 of 4 in two trips to the line. With 2:57 left, after senior AJ Gambol contributed her team-leading 20th and 22nd points, the Troubie post turned a Teoh pass into a three-pointer from behind the left elbow.
St. Francis moves to the consolation half of the bracket for a 4 p.m. game against Lodi, which lost to host Folsom by a 77-28 final.
In Thursday's late game, the Troubie Gold junior varsity squad defeated Calaveras, 40-32, with sophomore varsity players Audrey Bashore (15 points) and Natalia Zitelli (seven points, six steals) lending their services. Freshman Lena Mundhenk contributed six points, but more importantly logged five rebounds, a steal and a blocked shot to earn coach John Bashore's "Hard Hat Award." Catherine Gustafson and Keanna Daneshvar each hit 2 of 4 from the floor and posted three steals apiece.
JV Gold held a 17-9 lead through the first period and clung to a 21-19 lead at halftime, but never allowed the Red Hawks to equalize down the stretch. Zitelli and Emmy Cheatham each scored late in the third to provide a two-possession lead, and the Troubies kept Calaveras at arm's length the rest of the way.
Gold will play the tourney nightcap for the second straight day, this time against the host Bulldogs at 8:30 p.m. Folsom recovered from a cold third period offensively to take a 44-31 win over Colfax in the lead-in contest to the Troubies-Hawks game.
