For the second year in a row, the Turlock Christian High School girls basketball team is headed to the California Interscholastic Federation Sac-Joaquin Section Division V playoff semifinals, following a 70-18 drubbing of the Sacramento Adventist Academy Capitols Thursday evening.
The win sends the No. 2 seeded Eagles to Galt High School for the second consecutive year, setting the team up for a possible trip to the Arco Arena finals.
Thursday’s game was never close for the No. 7 seed Capitols, with the Eagles’ Amy Wright scoring an easy lay-up to tally the first points of the night — and put Turlock Christian ahead for good — just seconds into the game. The Eagles led 5-0 within 30 seconds of tipoff, following the first of many steals generated by their relentless, full-court press that forced the Capitols to fight to move the ball up court on each possession.
“We like our press,” Wright, who scored 16, said with a laugh.
At the close of the first quarter, which Turlock Christian turned into a fast break layup line, the Eagles held a 21-6 lead on the heels of Molly Farrar’s 11-point quarter. She would finish with 17, a team high.
The Capitols would not score in the second, their every effort stymied by the more aggressive, larger Turlock Christian team. The Eagles knocked home 26 more in that quarter to take an insurmountable 47-6 lead.
“What’s the mercy rule?” shouted one TC student fan from the bleachers.
Indeed, the mercy rule — that the clock keeps running in the fourth quarter regardless of play stoppages if a team leads by 40 at the end of the third — did come into play, but the Capitols put up their most competitive quarter coming out of halftime. Sac Adventist scored 10 of their 18 points in the third, going on a six-point run before a clutch Molly Zuhlke three-pointer for the Eagles put a comeback out of the Capitols’ mind.
Turlock Christian led 60-16 at the close of three. The abbreviated fourth quarter saw the Eagles continue to execute their gameplan of relentless, swarming defense, offensive rebounding, and fast break points to close out the contest 70-18.
“We were expecting a much more competitive game, but we filled the house today and I think that was a massive factor in how we played,” said Eagles head coach Edwin Santiago.
Turlock Christian will sponsor a fan bus to the Galt semifinals for the first time this year, Santiago said, in hopes of receiving the same sort of community support.
There, on Tuesday, Turlock Christian will meet the No. 11 seeded Ripon Christian, who knocked off No. 6 seed Trinity Prep 50-28 and No. 3 seed Wilton Christian 51-43 in overtime to reach the semis.
Turlock Christian defeated Ripon Christian 48-28 earlier this year, but at that time the Eagles still had their top scorer Halie Bergman. Bergman went down with a season ending knee injury last month.
According to Santiago, the Knights could present the Eagles’ toughest challenge yet, as their star player Kelsey Tillema is “quite a player,” but the Eagles remain focused on playing in the Division V finals at Arco Arena. They hope to rematch the top-ranked Bradshaw Christian team that knocked the Eagles out of the semifinals last year.
“But the final four is sweet,” Santiago said.
To contact Alex Cantatore, e-mail acantatore@turlockjournal.com or call 634-9141 ext. 2005.