BURLINGAME -- Modesto Christian's girls basketball team used a strong defensive effort to eliminate Burlingame 48-34 in the opening round of the Division 3 Northern California regional tournament.
The Crusaders (22-9) will next play on Saturday against the winner of the Eureka-Enterprise matchup.
Burligame's Dana Michaels and Lauren Rally entered Wednesday's game averaging a combined 31 points per game. Against the Crusaders, the duo teamed for 14.
"Ashley Lucas, Lexi Tubbs, Stephanie Moore ... between the three of them, they completely shut them down," said MC coach Robb Spencer. "They stayed glued to their hips. We just did an outstanding job of paying attention to details."
Modesto Christian jumped out to a 22-15 lead at the intermission — thanks largely to its defensive effort — but Spencer said he knew the Panthers would rally. They did. And it was led by, appropriately enough, Lauren Rally, who hit a 3-pointer and had a couple of putbacks to spark her team.
But Modesto Christian countered. Lucas, a sophomore, hit a 3-pointer late in the third quarter and then two more to open the fourth to help MC stretch its margin.
"This was a complete team effort," said Spencer. Everybody was engaged; everybody helped in the win."
• TURLOCK CHRISITAN 63, ST. FRANCIS 56, at Watsonville — Halie Bergman scored 39 points — 25 coming in the second half — to lead the Eagles to a victory over St. Francis in the Division 5 NorCal opener.
Turlock Christian (25-5) took an 18-15 lead after the first quarter, but a cold spell in the second left them trailing 27-23 at the break. When St. Francis opened the third quarter with a pair of 3-pointers, the Eagles trailed by 10 and called a timeout.
"We had been in a 1-3-1 (zone) trying to stop (Lauren) Price," said TC coach Edwin Santiago. "That wasn't working, so we went back to man defense."
More than the defensive switch, Bergman got hot for the Eagles, scoring 13 in the stanza and adding 12 more in the fourth.
"They got into foul trouble and that put us on the line," said Santiago. "That was nice, because we got to rest a little bit. It slowed down the pace.
"Halie really tired them out. Her desire and grit really got us through that third quarter."
Price led St. Francis with 28.
The Eagles will take on International on Saturday in San Francisco. International, which beat Weed 61-32 to advance, defeated TC 59-32 earlier this season at the West Coast Jamboree.
• SAN DOMENICO 44, RIPON CHRISTIAN 39, at San Anselmo — Jenny Wickham's attempt at a game-tying 3-pointer with 12 seconds left didn't go, and San Domenico escaped with a Division 5 NorCal first-round win over Ripon Christian.
Wickham, who led the Knights with 11 points, took a shot from the right side but missed. Ripon Christian (20-9) was forced to foul after that and the Panthers (25-7) made their free throws down the stretch for the victory.
San Domenico's Sasha Nagler led all scorers with 29 points. Elyzah Bernstein added 10 for the Panthers, who also visited the free-throw line 21 times, making 16.
"We knew that (Nagler) was their best scorer," said Ripon Christian coach Ed Mulder. "She did a nice job. She's very smooth and deceptive."
Karly Tillema had 10 points off the bench for the Knights and Teagan Manus contributed seven.
• ORLAND 67, SUMMERVILLE 62, at Tuolumne — Jud Sailsbery ... does the name ring any bells? Nearly two years ago to the day, on March 8, 2011, then-sophomore Sailsbery scored 36 points as the Trojans defeated Modesto Christian 81-73 in the opening round of the NorCal regionals.
The 6-foot-1 guard was at it again on Wednesday, scoring 40 against Summerville (28-4), ending the Bears' season in the NorCal opener.
"We knew he was going to be tough," said Summerville coach Ben Watson, who led the Bears to the school's first Sac-Joaquin Section title last weekend. "Even though we did what we could against their big scorer, our bugaboo tonight was 19 turnovers to their nine."
That gave the Trojans extra possessions, meaning that gave Sailsbery more looks at the basket.
Joey Brocchini led Summerville with 18 points, all coming in the second half and all coming from behind the 3-point line. Connor Morningstar added 16, while Rosendo AmayaWood and Logen Foster chipped in with 10 apiece.
But Sailsbery matched Brocchini 3-pointer for 3-pointer, as six of his 10 trifectas came in the second half.
"The kids did just great," said Watson. "We just couldn't quite get over the hump in this game. But they had a great season. Can't knock them at all."
• LIBERTY CHRISTIAN 67, RIPON CHRISTIAN 55, at Redding — Liberty Christian hit 10 of 12 free-throw attempts in the fourth quarter, as it held off the Knights in the Division 5 NorCal opener.
Ripon Christian (23-6) trailed 26-24 at halftime and was within striking distance — 47-38 — at the start of the fourth quarter. The Knights cut the deficit to six, but Liberty Christian's accuracy from the stripe allowed them to pull away.
"We matched up pretty evenly," said RC coach Ron Vander Molen. "It was run-and-gun; fast paced and very physical."
Jon Vander Molen led RC with 15 points, while Dan Vos added 14 and Clayton Blankers chipped in with 12. Joseph Lynch scored 21 for LC and Tyler Green added 18.
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