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Varsity Warriors look to make up lost time
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Photo by Paige Lampson
Galt senior Nick Gamalski dribbles the ball down the court during Galt’s game against Ponderosa last week.
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By Kerensa Uyeta-Buckley
Herald Sports
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With one of its players out due to injury and two challenging opponents lined up, the Galt Warriors boys basketball program was in a bit of a tough spot last week.
Galt lost senior Sam Mitchell in December due to injury, and then lost its games against both Ponderosa and Christian Brothers.
While the Warriors expect to see Mitchell approximately in a week, they are still coping with a season that has been without the summer leagues that others in the SVC have had access to, according to Galt head coach Steve Box.
“We haven’t had the same amount of time and it shows. They’re very fundamental and they shot the ball well, and they do everything really well,” Box said of Ponderosa Thursday, after the Warriors lost to the Bruins 54-25.
Box, in his first year at Galt, was hired just before the start of the season, leaving the Warriors with a shortened amount of time together prior to the start of the preseason on Nov. 27.
Ponderosa has held each of the four Sierra Valley Conference opponents it has played to under 50 points this season, with an average of 31.5 points.
Prior to Tuesday’s games, the Bruins were tied for first place in the SVC with a 3-1 record and a 14-3 record overall.
Ponderosa went on a 15-point scoring run from the first quarter that ended with 2:54 left in the second quarter.
The run left Galt trailing 22-5, and the Warriors weren’t able to recover in the second half.
The Bruins led 14-5 at the end of the first quarter, and increased their lead by holding Galt scoreless in the quarter until Jonathan Schantz hit a three-point shot with 2:27 left in the half.
“Ponderosa, they’re one of the better teams in Sacramento, and they showed it tonight. It’s an evolving process, and we’re still very far away from that right now,” Box said after the game.
Schantz led the Warriors with nine points, Brent Harrison had five points, and Sterling Shells had six points.
Senior guard/forward Rhett Beal leads Ponderosa in scoring with 16.5 points per game, and also leads in rebounds, steals, and assists.
Beal led the Bruins with 22 points, while Steve Lackey had 12 points.
“For us to beat them, we had to play a perfect game, and we didn’t. Their defense took away a lot of what we’re used to doing. We struggled against their defense; we were a little impatient. We missed some opportunities and you can’t do that against a high level team like that,” said Box of Ponderosa.
Jan. 15
Last Tuesday’s first meeting between the Warriors and Christian Brothers turned to be just as close as their games have been in previous seasons.
Galt held a nine-point lead at the start of the fourth quarter, then saw Christian Brothers tie the score and eventually take and hold onto the lead within the final minutes for a 58-51 win.
Last season, Galt won 75-74 on Jan. 12, 2007 and lost 55-43 in the teams’ second meeting, on Feb. 1.
In 2006, Christian Brothers won 59-57 on Jan. 3.
In last Tuesday’s game, the score was tied 48-48 after Austin Phillips successfully completed a three-point play with 3:30 left.
Christian Brothers’ Nolan Wallner gave the Falcons the lead with a basket that made it 50-48, and was followed by a Danny Bird shot that gave the visitors a 52-48 lead with 2:47 left.
After a Christian Brothers shot clock violation, Galt junior Sterling Shells scored to bring Galt within 52-51 of Christian Brothers with 1:50 left.
Sterling Arterberry then hit a three-point shot to give the Falcons a cushion at 55-51.
Galt head coach Steve Box ordered a timeout to give the Warriors a chance to plan a winning play with 38 seconds left.
During Galt’s resulting possession, Jonathan Schantz took a three-point shot, but the ball spun out of the hoop.
Galt then fouled Martin Harris twice, which boosted the Falcons’ score to the final score of 58-51.
Galt took its first lead late in the second quarter.
Brent Harrison hit a three-point shot to tie the game at 18-18 with 1:32 left.
Schantz then scored to give the Warriors a 21-19 lead, and free throws by Joe Setum gave the Warriors a 24-21 lead with two seconds left in the half.
After trading leads with Christian Brothers in the third quarter, Galt began to increase its lead later in the quarter, ending it with a 38-32 lead.
In the fourth quarter, Shells successfully completed a three-point play to give the Warriors a 41-32 lead with 7:44 left.
Christian Brothers would mount its comeback shortly afterwards, going on a nine-point run that would end in a 41-41 tied after a putback by Asante Cleveland.
Two Brent Harrison free throws gave Galt a two-point temporary lead before Christian Brothers eventually took a permanent lead with 3:30 remaining.
Brent Harrison led the Warriors with 13 points, Sterling Shells had 12 points, and Austin Phillips, Jonathan Schantz, and Joe Setum had seven points each.
Freshman Lady Warriors take lead back from Ponderosa
By Kerensa Uyeta-Buckleu
Herald Sports-
The freshman Lady Warriors overcame a brief fourth-quarter deficit to win against Ponderosa Friday evening, 41-34.
Down 32-31 with 4:18 left, Dominique Jimenez scored a three-point shot to give Galt its first lead since the beginning of the quarter.
A Ponderosa free throw brought the Lady Bruins within 34-33, but Jimenez hit her second three-point shot of the quarter to give Galt a 37-33 lead.
Betsy Flores then hit a three-point shot of her own to give Galt a 40-34 lead with 1:58 left.
Hannah Almager was fouled twice to end the game and scored one free throw for Galt’s 41-34 win.
Galt and Ponderosa traded leads in the third quarter, which ended with Galt ahead 27-26.
Galt then maintained its lead with a 29-28 advantage after Kayla Rodriguez hit a two-point field goal.
Ponderosa then took the lead after scoring with 5:45 left in the game.
Although Ponderosa took a brief lead late in the second quarter, the Lady Warriors maintained a lead over their visitors throughout much of the first half, which ended with Galt on top, 22-19.
Kayla Rodriguez led Galt with 16 points, Jimenez scored nine points, and Almager had eight points.
Galt’s next game is at Cordova tonight at 4:30 p.m.
JV Lady Warriors defeat Ponderosa
By Kerensa Uyeta-Buckley
Herald Sports-
The Galt JV Lady Warriors came back from a first half deficit to defeat Ponderosa Friday evening, 43-33.
The Lady Warriors, which had trailed by as much as 13 points in the second quarter, worked their way to their own double-digit advantage in the second half, with the help of a third-quarter scoring run.
Galt trailed 21-19 after Amber Hirtl scored in the beginning of the third quarter.
Brooke Fletcher then hit a three-point field goal that gave Galt its first lead of the game.
After a Ponderosa basket made it 23-22 Ponderosa, Cori de Diego made two free throws to give the Lady Warriors the lead back at 24-23 with 3:11 left in the third.
A Ponderosa free throw tied the game at 24-24, but Fletcher scored to give Galt the lead for good.
The closest Ponderosa came to Galt’s lead in the fourth quarter was when it scored to pull within 37-31 with 1:49 left.
However, Galt then scored two baskets in a row to pull away from Ponderosa.
“They’re a good, solid team, so I was happy for the girls,” Galt head coach Mark Blasingame said Friday evening of Ponderosa and his own players.
Ponderosa jumped out to a 14-3 lead by the end of the first quarter, but was held to just three points by Galt’s defense in the second quarter.
The lag in scoring in addition to Galt’s seven-point run in the third quarter combined to push Galt past the Lady Bruins.
“Defense, it was all defense. The defense created our offense, kept them running all game,” said Blasingame.
Amanda Eckroth led Galt with 12 points, Alyssa Thomas had eight points, and Fletcher scored six points.
Galt will travel to Cordova tonight with a start time of 6 p.m. or after the conclusion of the freshman girls’ game.
Varsity wrestling earns two individual wins in loss to Christian Brothers
By Kerensa Uyeta-Buckley
Herald Sports-
Nico Saiz and Andrew Moses earned individual wins after both pinned their opponents Wednesday night.
Saiz defeated his opponent with a pin with 39 seconds left in the first period of the 189-pound weight class match.
The pin gave Galt a 6-6 tie with the Falcons.
Moses won the 140-pound weight class match after pinning his opponent in the second period.
Moses had a 9-2 lead before pinning with 36 seconds left in the second period.
Galt was without its experienced heavyweight, Kellen Riley, who had to take a leave of absence from the team to tend to other matters.
Taking his place, however, is Gabriel Sanchez, who moved up from JV to the varsity level in the heavyweight division.
The JV and varsity Warriors lost to Union Mine on Jan. 10, but had several individual wrestlers win matches, including Michael Fuentes and Sanchez.
“We worked on a lot of bottom wrestling, as well as a lot of takedowns,” Galt head coach Russell Lexau said after the match.
“I think we took more shots, and we did a lot better in the defensive position, but we still need to work,” said Lexau.
JV wrestling defeats Christian Brothers with two pins
By Kerensa Uyeta-Buckley
Herald Sports-
While last Wednesday’s junior varsity wrestling match between Galt and Christian Brothers may not have consisted of many matches, Galt took home the win just the same.
Galt’s wrestling program garnered its first win of the Sierra Valley Conference season last Wednesday with by winning two out of three matches.
Aric Codog pinned his opponent in the 119 pound weight class and Geno Barbagelata pinned in the final match of the evening to help defeat Christian Brothers.
Galt’s final win margin was 36-6, though, after forfeits racked up extra Galt points.
Codog pinned his opponent with 1:10 left in the first period and Barbagelata pinned with 24 seconds left in the first period, after taking a 2-1 lead.
“I felt real positive about tonight,” Galt head coach Dan Lucero said afterwards. “These wrestlers are starting to come together, they’re putting combination moves in there, they’re really hustling on their feet.”
Lucero mentioned that his wrestlers put the skills that they had learned in practice to good use against Christian Brothers.
“We had a real hard week of practice and I’m very satisfied with what I’ve seen out there.
I’m excited about them. They all wrestled very smart. They went out there with everything we worked on during the wrestling week,” Lucero said.
“They went out with that in their eyes wanting to go ahead and pin and wanting to go out there and execute those moves,” Lucero said.
Lucero commented on Codog and Barbagelata’s success Wednesday night.
“He’s there, he comes to wrestler all the time. He gives 110 percent,” Lucero said of Codog. “Geno Barbagelata surprised us tonight with one of his first wins. They both went out there and got the job done.”
Galt’s next JV wrestling match is Thursday night at Ponderosa at 6 p.m.
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