ROUNDUP: Vaqueros, Patriots grab wins
- Updated: January 6, 2018
2017 EAST COUNTY PREP GIRLS BASKETBALL
By Dave Dickens
EastCountySports.com
NATIONAL CITY (1-5-2018) – The El Capitan Lady Vaqueros have been playing their tails off for the last month and coming so close to victory, yet seemingly falling a few points shy in every contest.
El Cap has grown weary and frustrated, so much so that they decided to take it out on the host Sweetwater Lady Red Devils, decimating their opponent Friday evening, 55-15.
STEPHANIE YEAKLE did not add to the Lady Vaqueros’ scoring total on Friday, however she did come off the bench to play her best defense of the season so far.
Yeakle was assigned to guard the Red Devils star player, Hanna Mesfin, who was held to only 3 points.
“We played our game without worrying about the past, just played in the moment and had fun,” said Yeakle. “We were definitely fed up with losing the close games, however, tonight everyone was on the same page and up the line on defense, which really made this game a lot of fun.”
JORDAN GRANDY led the Vaquero defense with 10 steals and 11 points, while teammates SERENE WECKBACK and KYLIE MEAD cleaned up the inside.
The passing lane for El Cap was open all night.
“We ran it up quickly but in the 2nd quarter, Sweetwater put in Mesfin and we had to make adjustments,” said Lady Vaquero MACKENZIE CURTIS.
El Cap eased up on the scoring rout up until the 4th quarter, the Vaqueros decided to continue to turn up the heat.
Grande had 4 steals in the first 3 minutes of play.
“We still have adjustments to make, I’m just happy overall with how all the girls played and can’t
wait to get back to practice,” said Curtis
Curtis was the leading scorer on the evening with 21 total points, including a 3-pointer, and 4-for-4 from the FT line.
SHIANA PERES had 8 points, including 2-for-2 from the FT line for West Hills.
“I was pleased with everyone who did play, I thought I was going to finally have everyone back for only the third time this season, however now DEVON BULLOCK and MIRANDA NICHOLS are out with knee sprains,” said El Cap head coach DARIN CURTIS.
“It was our most complete game, everyone contributed tonight.”
The win for the Lady Vaqueros snapped an 8-game skid.
The Vaqueros (4-11) will face Holtville (8-3) at Holtville on Saturday. The game time start has yet to be announced.
It might be going out on a limb by stating that the Lady Vaqueros can get the win by 3 on the road, but you could surely see it happening the way the team continues to battle in close games.
CHRISTIAN 68, CRAWFORD 34 – The Patriots jumped out to an 18-1 lead in the first quarter doubled up on the Colts in the City League opener on the road.
Sophomore forward SIMONE JAMES had 21 points for Christian (9-5), while freshman guard KRISTEN WILLIAMS added 23 points, including four three-pointers for the Lady Pats.
Williams had three of her threes in the second quarter.
Sophomore HANNAH RICHARDSON contributed 10 points for the Patriots.
Christian will next face Hoover (1-0, 6-2) on the road on Tuesday at 5 p.m.
MOUNTAIN EMPIRE 47, BORREGO SPRINGS 39 – Mountain Empire improved to 7-1 as it got 37 points combined from the trio of ALYSSA NOLAND, DALIA JUAREZ and GRECIA CORTEZT.
Noland had 10 points, Juarez had 14 points and Cortez had 13 points.
The War Hawks had a big fourth quarter push to get the win, outscoring the Rams 17-9.
The War Hawks will play Holtville on Tuesday at 5:30 at home in Pine Valley.
RANCHO BERNARD0 70, GRANITE HILLS 34 – KANI KUBARI scored 16 points in the contest for the Eagles, but the 15th-ranked Broncos led 38-9 with one minute to go before halftime to cruise in the Sweetwater New Year’s Classic.
Rancho Bernardo improved to 10-2, while the Eagles fell to 4-9. The Eagles play again on Saturday at the Sweewater tournament.
