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Two losses keep Lady Warriors out of playoff picture
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Photo by Paige Lampson
Kristen Lee, a Galt senior, prepares to nail a three-point basket in the Lady Warriors’ win over Cordova in the second round of the SVC Tournament on Thursday, as her teammates look on.
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By Kerensa Uyeta-Buckley
Herald Sports
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They gave everything they could on the court at Oak Ridge High School Friday night, taking hard falls and staying alert to try to get steals.
The biggest goal for the Lady Warriors, however, was one they fell short of, and Galt High School’s girls varsity basketball season ended Friday night as a result.
The Lady Warriors fell to Ponderosa in the final game of the Sierra Valley Conference Tournament, 70-52.
The loss was the second of the week for Galt, knocking the Lady Warriors, who were five spots out of the playoffs at the beginning of last week, out of the playoff picture.
Galt had needed to win at least two, if not all three, of its games in the SVC Tournament last week to make it into the top 16 teams that advanced to the Division I playoffs this week.
The Lady Warriors lost to Oak Ridge in the opening round of the tournament and defeated Cordova 75-42 Thursday before dropping a hard-fought battle against Ponderosa.
Galt head coach Brandon Fletcher said that although his players’ season is over, the girls learned more basketball skills and improved as individuals.
They also won their fair share of games in the process.
“It was about hard work, it was about dedication to a family, and it was about improving as a person. That’s what we want to do. It’s not really about winning basketball games, and we won a lot of them. That’s not a bad season,” Fletcher said Friday night.
The Lady Warriors improved on the court and off, said Fletcher.
“I told the girls, I hope you can take something out of this season,” Fletcher said. “I want (them) to take something positive and say, ‘you know what, I learned something about myself and I grew as a person,’” Fletcher said.
Ponderosa started pulling away from the Lady Warriors in the second quarter, and led 36-21 at halftime.
The Lady Bruins’ consistent shooting distanced themselves from Galt, which took advantage of steals and rebounds, but could not keep up with Natalie Radosavljevic’s 23 points and nine rebounds.
Despite being down by 15 points with 5:45 left in the fourth quarter, Galt refused to give up.
Sam Messersmith, a senior who has led Galt all year, tried to grab an offensive rebound after a Galt shot missed, and fell hard after losing her balance.
Messersmith later rejoined her teammates after taking a few minutes to recover, and scored the last basket of the game.
Galt’s efforts were not lost on Fletcher, who said that his players have worked hard all season and did their best despite losing teammates to injury sporadically throughout the season.
Galt lost senior Erin Velguth to injury earlier in the year, and dealt with injuries to Jena Blasingame and Maci Hansen, as well.
Fletcher said that while there are no more games to play, the Lady Warriors’ work is not finished.
“I think one of the most fun parts of my job is the off-season, where we get to take the people in my program and really harp on the fundamentals and harp on the basketball skills and improve as a team,” Fletcher said.
Indicating Oak Ridge’s success, Fletcher said that he hopes to work with his team to prepare for next season, as off-season training has helped Oak Ridge.
“I’m of the philosophy that teams are made during the season, but players are made in the off-season and programs are built in the off-season,” Fletcher said.
Galt will have a very different team in December, as it will be without its seven seniors, which include Messersmith, Megan Bond, Kim Briggs, Megan Jones, Velguth, Julie Bowden and Kristen Lee.
However, they will be able to choose from a wide pool of talent from this season’s freshman and JV teams.
Fletcher pointed out that the varsity team already has one freshman on the team, and will be able to stock up with younger players to help build up a solid team.
Feb. 12
Things did not go Galt’s way last Tuesday evening, but then, going up a team that has had just three losses all season, the Lady Warriors knew they would have their work cut out for them.
Galt traveled to Oak Ridge High School for the opening round of the Sierra Valley Conference Tournament, and were shut down by Oak Ridge’s defense, 52-26.
The Lady Warriors faced an Oak Ridge team that averaged 62.4 points per game during the league season.
Galt never quite established a rhythm against the Lady Trojans, which took advantage of Galt turnovers and missed shots throughout the evening.
Oak Ridge also was quick to pick up offensive rebounds and obtain second chance points by doing so.
While the Lady Warriors worked to lessen the point deficit between themselves and Oak Ridge with multiple steals and blocks, the effort was not enough against the efficiency of the Lady Trojans.
Oak Ridge finished the regular season by going 10-0 in the SVC and finished in first place.
Overall, Oak Ridge has allowed just three losses and will be a top contender in the Division II playoffs.
While Oak Ridge’s scoring gave them a large advantage throughout most of the game, Galt slowed down Oak Ridge’s pace temporarily in the third quarter.
Galt limited Oak Ridge to nine points in the third quarter and Oak Ridge had scored just one basket before Kristin Obregon scored with 5:08 left in the fourth quarter to give Oak Ridge a 41-17 lead.
Galt also limited Oak Ridge to nine points in the second quarter.
In both the second and third quarters, however, Galt scored six points and four points, respectively, preventing the Lady Warriors from closing in on Oak Ridge’s lead.
“I told the girls in the locker room, they do a really nice job of making you not execute,” Galt head coach Brandon Fletcher said of Oak Ridge.
“They give you a lot of different looks, and you’ve got to be focused and you’ve got to be ready for everything they throw at you,” said Fletcher.
Oak Ridge’s ability to keep teams off-balance is due to several things, Fletcher said.
“It is defensive, but it’s not. They score, they run their press, and they play zone. They don’t, they run your man. They’ll change it up and give you different looks, and it’s just so hard to prepare for them,” Fletcher said.
Oak Ridge held league opponents to an average of 36.9 points per game during the regular season.
“But they do a great job,” Fletcher acknowledged. “ Coach [Steve] White said that they didn’t think that they’d be this good, but it’s a very solid ball club. They give you so many problems.”
While Galt’s performance on the floor was not indicative of their normal game play, Fletcher said that his players tried to do what they could to help their playoff chances.
“The girls played with a sense of urgency tonight because we need every game. We did that part well. I give my girls credit for fighting to the last one,” said Fletcher.
GHS tennis player raising money for Holland trip
Christina Phillips, a freshman who led Galt’s varsity tennis team under head coach Suzanne Stebbins with an undefeated record in 2007, was invited by People to People to be a sports ambassador and to receive training from international coaches.
Phillips is actively involved in fundraising for the trip, which will take place July 19-29.
She is hoping to raise $6,000 for the trip, and is accepting donations to help fund trip.
Those wishing to donate to Phillips’ trip can make checks payable to: Christina Phillips Holland Donation Account, Acct # 171098247, Bank of the West, 229 S. Church St. Lodi, CA 95240.
McCaffrey 8th grade boys basketball team back-to-back AMA champions
Following up after last year’s dramatic one point victory over Toyon Warriors in the 2007 7th grade boys basketball AMA Championship, the McCaffrey Bulldogs left no doubt on the floor, by beating the same Toyon Warriors 64 – 49 for the 2008 AMA Championship on Dec. 16.
For the past week the AMA booster club hosted 34 teams, 34 games in the 36th annual AMA boys basketball tournament, youth basketball’s version of March Madness in Calaveras County, with schools from Calaveras, Amador, Tuolumne, San Joaquin and Sacramento counties.
The eighth grade McCaffrey boys came in to the hosted Mark Twain 36th annual AMA tournament as the second seed before facing Toyon in the championship.
En route to the championship, the eighth grade Bulldogs posted victories over Avery in the second round and out pointing a tough Ione squad in the semi-finals. During the regular season Toyon had posted victories over McCaffrey and came in to the tournament undefeated. But on Feb. 16, the eighth grade Bulldogs had other ideas as they saved their best game for when it counts the most.
Defending their championship, the pumped-up Bulldogs opened up the scoring from the opening tip, and never looked back as they led every step of the way and posted a 15 point margin of victory.
The energy and support from all the players and McCaffrey fans was the key. The inspiration and play of Taylor Hill who played with an injured knee was also a big boost. This was truly an all team effort.
Outstanding play and all tournament honors went to Kevin Saeturn and MVP Jonathon Perez who tied a single game point record scoring 39 points.
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