The Pride’s girls basketball team came out of the gates hot on Thursday for the first game of the 11th annual Kiwanis of Greater Turlock Pitman Holiday Classic, dismantling defending champion Hughson 52-27. But their high came crashing down in the second round on Friday night when they fell 57-32 to Mountain House.
The gals in green will play at 4:30 p.m. Saturday against Patterson for the third-place title.
Hughson, meanwhile, dropped their consolation game to Merced by a 54-25 score and will play Argonaut at 1:30 p.m. in the seventh-place game.
The junior duo of Dailynn Greener and Miley Zamora each scored in double figures Thursday to lead the Pride. Greener scored 18 points on 5 of 16 shooting and 7 of 12 free throws. Zamora’s 10 points came on 5 of 11 shooting from the field.
Pitman, 5-6, controlled the game against the 1-8 Huskies from the jump, leading by at least double-digits for the majority of the contest. The efficient scoring, particularly from Greener, was a satisfactory sight to see from head coach Parmine Randhawa, who admitted that the team wil rely heavily on the junior’s scoring ability, especially with the offseason graduation of top scorer Liz Webb, who now competes at Modesto Junior College. Even better is the fact that 10 of the 11 players in the Pride’s rotation scored that night.
“Dai’s scoring ability is definitely what we’ve been leaning on, and it’s a tough ask because it was such a 1-2 punch with Liz here last year,” Randhawa said. “Now, there is no Liz. But our offense runs where every single player on the court can have a chance to score.”
The scoring was few and far between Saturday against 9-4 Mountain House, as the Pride shot just 12 of 50 from the field. Greener shot just 3-for-22 for 9 points, while senior center Tusi Elisaia matched her to lead the team.
On top of that, they turned the ball over a whopping 25 times. The athletic Mustangs took full advantage, as Jariah Indalecio had five steals and scored 22 points, including 10 in transition.
“The one thing about this team is that they are very coachable,” Randhawa said. “They listen to the feedback and they play with a lot of hustle. From here on out, it’s about learning from these early mistakes and executing. We can’t be telegraphing our passes like this and not finishing.
“That’s why we play good teams like Mountain House this early in the season, it proves that good teams can make us pay for the mistakes.”
Turlock enters weekend on a high note
Turlock’s boys team had a similarly difficult shooting night on Thursday in their opener against Stockton’s Weston Ranch in the Modesto Christian Holiday Hoop Classic. In the 66-39 loss, the Bulldogs were overpowered by dynamic guards Damien Rease and Darrion Lilly, who combined for 44 points. Meanwhile, Turlock’s top scorer, Izaak Saenz, was able to muster just 10.
It seemed as if it would be more of the same on Friday afternoon when they fell behind 23-7 to Pleasant Valley after a quarter of play in their first consolation game, but they quickly got their ducks in a row, outscoring their opponents by double digits in the middle two quarters to take a 43-38 lead heading into the final frame. They eventually pulled out a 53-45 win, backed by 12 points from Dutch Lawrence, 11 from Alex Esquibel and nine from Saenz.
The Bulldogs are set to face El Capitan (Merced) at noon Saturday. The tournament wraps Monday.
Hilmar defeats SVDP in thriller, fall to Beyer
Hilmar’s boys team, who experienced some growing pains of a 5-23 season a year ago, are off to a far better start this winter, already being close to matching that win total with a 4-7 record. Their latest win came in the opening game of the Livingston Holiday Classic, in which they pulled out a 55-53 win over St. Vincent de Paul of Petaluma.
The Yellowjackets had three double-digit scorers, led by 17 from junior Xavier Silveria, who shot 4-for-9 from the field and six made free-throws. Not far behind was sophomore Riley Quintero with 14 and freshman Aaron Solorio with 10. Silveria also crashed the boards for a team-high six rebounds.
The good times ran out Friday evening after dropping the semifinal game to Beyer of Modesto 62-21.
Lady Bulldogs struggle at West Coast Jamboree
The West Coast Jamboree in California’s East Bay is widely considered one of the tougher preseason tournaments in the region, with teams coming from neighboring states to compete. Nobody knows better than Turlock’s girls basketball team, who dropped their first game to Carlmont of Belmont 60-21 on Friday morning. Things won’t get any easier for the 2-10 Bulldogs, as they will face Sanger West at 11:30 a.m. at the Robert Livermore Community Center in Livermore.
