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Varsity girls come back to earn last-minute win over Placer
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File photo
Natalie Oelsner dribbles the ball down the court in Galt’s first game this year. The Lady Warriors won the first game of the Lady Trojan Toss Up against Placer last Wednesday
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By Kerensa Uyeta-Buckley
Herald Sports
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If the varsity Lady Warriors have seemed aggressive on the floor lately, it hasn’t been by accident.
Galt just wrapped up its last preseason tournament, but for the duration of a tournament, the strive to constantly be on the move has been a crucial part of their game, according to head coach Brandon Fletcher.
“Teams like Placer, and Oak Ridge, we play physical as well. What that does is disrupt the timing of the offense. When that timing is interrupted, you see breakdowns, you see balls flying out of bounds, and you see a lot of missed shots,” Fletcher said.
Out-of-bounds balls and quick passes were a common sight last Wednesday.
After starting the fourth quarter with a four-point lead, Galt came back from a back-and-forth battle with Placer on the scoreboard to win 51-50.
“For us to hold a team like Placer to only 50 points was a tremendous accomplishment. We want to play physical because that forces the tempo and forces the momentum into our favor,” said Fletcher.
Placer took a 50-49 lead on a basket by Haley Hobbs with 1:11 left.
After two timeouts, Maci Hansen scored the winning basket with 21 seconds left.
Galt led by four points near the start of the fourth quarter on baskets by Sabrina Dahl and Kim Briggs.
Madison Meade then hit a three-point shot to bring Placer within 42-41.
Kasey Riecks then stole the ball and scored to give Placer a 43-42 lead with 5:28 left.
After a Galt miss, Placer then scored and took a 45-42 lead.
Kristen Lee then hit a three-point shot that tied the score at 45-45 with 4:50 left.
Riecks then hit a three-point shot to give Placer a 48-45 lead.
Jena Blasingame then scored to bring Galt within one point.
After a defensive rebound of Erin Velguth, Kim Briggs scored to give Galt the lead back at 49-48 with 2:31 left.
An effective defense by both teams and an energetic offense kept the game close across all four quarters.
Placer led 28-27 at halftime, and led 36-35 at the end of the fourth quarter.
Neither team gave much leeway, and both Galt and Placer faced a neck-and-neck battle all the way through.
Riecks and Meade both hit key shots for Placer and helped keep the Lady Warriors on their game.
Riecks scored a game-high 17 points, while Meade scored 14 points for Placer.
Galt senior Sam Messersmith led the Lady Warriors with key shots of her own, scoring 16 points.
Messersmith also had four rebounds and one steal.
Jena Blasingame scored 12 points and had seven rebounds.
On defense, Erin Velguth led the Lady Warriors with nine rebounds and four assists and two steals.
“We did a good job of keeping ourselves in the game,” Galt head coach Brandon Fletcher said afterwards.
Fletcher addressed the back-and-forth nature of Wednesday’s game, noting Galt’s reenergized state in the third quarter.
“They actually jumped out 4-0 on us, then we started getting going. Then they jumped out to an early 5-0 run and all of a sudden, we’re down by six. I called timeout and we regrouped, picked up our energy and at the end of the third quarter, we were down by one again,” Fletcher said.
Fletcher gave credit to his players for playing a game characteristic of their usual physical style.
“In the fourth quarter, it was who wanted it more,” Fletcher said. “It was a close game with two evenly-matched teams. We wanted this one real bad, and that’s why we ended up winning the game.”
The win sent Galt into the second-round game Friday against El Camino, who defeated Rocklin Wednesday night.
Depending on the outcome of that game, Galt would have either advanced to the championship game or the third place game Saturday evening.
The Lady Trojan Toss-Up is an annual tournament and started with Bear River, Folsom, Oak Ridge, and Rio Linda opening up with games last Tuesday, and the remaining four teams playing their first round Wednesday.
Galt will play its last preseason game Friday at home against Stagg, and will open up the Sierra Valley Conference with a 7:30 p.m. game against Oak Ridge.
GHS wrestling to compete in Lemoore Bash
Galt High School’s varsity wrestling program will head to the Lemoore Bash Friday and will wrap up its annual trip the next day.
The tournament is hosted by Lemoore High School, which is in Lemoore, south of Fresno.
After the Lemoore Bash, Galt’s varsity wrestling team will attend the Fazel Khan Invitational on Jan. 5.
That is the team’s last preseason tournament before the start of the Sierra Valley League season.
Galt will open up its season with a home match against Oak Ridge High School on Jan. 8.
SVC season to start Jan. 8 for Galt
After wrapping up the last tournaments and single games of the preseason, Galt High School will open up the Sierra Valley Conference season Jan. 8.
Galt’s boys basketball program will open up the season with away games against Oak Ridge, while the JV and varsity wrestling teams will open the season with a home match against Oak Ridge.
The freshman, JV, and varsity girls basketball teams will host Oak Ridge Jan. 9.
Corbett to play in Cotton Bowl
Galt product Jaysen Corbett will play in the Cotton Bowl Jan. 1 with the University of Missouri, capping a solid first season with the Tigers.
Corbett signed to the University of Missouri earlier this year, after playing football at Sacramento City College.
The Tigers, which have an 11-2 record, will play the Arkansas Razorbacks, which had an 8-4 record.
Corbett had seven tackles and one sack for the Tigers, which at one point this season, was the number one-ranked team in the BCS standings.
Year in Review issue next week
The Galt Herald Sports section will feature its “Year in Review” in the Jan. 2 issue.
The top five Galt sports stories will be featured, highlighting the best youth, recreation, and high school sports stories.
The issue will cover teams from the spring, fall, and winter seasons, as well as summer sports.
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