Pitman High girls basketball coach Parmine Randhawa and her counterpart at rival Turlock High, Erica Hernandez, both will tell you that their teams still have a long way to go before they perform the way they’re capable.
But until that happens, Randhawa’s squad finds itself in a much more enviable position than Hernandez’s.
The host Pride overcame patches of sloppy play to hold off the young and error-prone Bulldogs 49-41 in Tuesday’s Central California Athletic League matchup.
Pitman improves to 9-11 overall and 3-0 in conference play, tied atop the standings with Gregori (3-0), a 53-41 winner over Enochs (2-1) on Tuesday.
Turlock, meanwhile, drops to 2-19 and 0-3 in the CCAL.
“We had some struggles in the second half, they made some shots, and the momentum went their way,” said Randhawa. “That’s basketball. But we withstood that. And that’s what I’m most proud about. This team never gives up the fight. Whether we’re up or we’re down, they never give up.”
Turlock jumped out to a 6-0 lead, but Pitman took control with a 13-2 run, and led 15-10 after one quarter.
Pitman continued to open up the lead until the Bulldogs were able to cut the lead to seven with about three minutes remaining in the fourth quarter.
“We’ve definitely improved since the beginning of the season,” said senior point guard Aiyana Hosep, who led all scorers with 18 points, which included hitting five of six free-throw attempts down the stretch. “We’re working more as a team and working through turnovers and mental lapses.”
The Bulldogs were paced by nine points from Cadee Campbell, all coming from beyond the arc, and Aleya Salazar, who scored seven of her nine in the first quarter.
Deja Cox, one of just three seniors on the Turlock roster, chipped in with seven points.
“We’re a young team and we’re still learning,” said Cox, a 5-foot-10 forward/center. “But everybody on the team has the skills, and I just think if we can just work as a team, we can get somewhere.”
The Bulldogs’ eight-point loss to Pitman was a vast improvement over their 29-point loss to Gregori last week at Bulldog Arena.
“Our goal is to get better each game and not let the pressure of the game get us,” said Turlock coach Erica Hernandez, who has four juniors and three sophomores on her 10-player roster, though only eight suited up Tuesday. “But sometimes it just does. This team works really hard in practice, and the pressure thing is just something that we’re not used to yet.”
Turlock will travel to face Downey on Thursday, while Pitman faces a stiff test against Enochs in Modesto.
"We just prepare for whoever is in front of us, and don’t think about who next after this, and who’s next after that,” said Randhawa. “I tell them all the time that I have the most belief in them of anyone. I’m going to ride with them all the way. It feels nice to be where we’re at, but we’ve got to keep our head down and we’ve got to keep working.”
