Golden Valley girls’ rally falls short; East Union upset by River Valley
As soon as the final buzzer sounded, Golden Valley senior Stephanie Moore instantly went from being a basketball star to a big sister.
Moore went to console her sister, Delia Moore, who was upset at herself. Not because she missed a potential tying shot in the final seconds, but because she missed a late free throw.
Stephanie put her arm around Delia as they walked to the locker room after an emotional 44-41 loss to Folsom in the Sac-Joaquin Section Division I quarterfinals on Thursday night.
“It’s tough knowing that’s the last game we’re going to play together,” Stephanie said. “Sometimes we get upset because we all think it’s our fault. We played our hearts out. Every one of us did. We left it all on the floor tonight.”
The fifth-seeded Cougars (24-5) battled back from a 13-point deficit in the second half. They twice led by two points in the final two minutes of the game until Folsom’s Sydney Larcocca scored on a layup to give the fourth-seeded Bulldogs a 42-41 lead with 50 seconds left.
After a Golden Valley shot-clock violation, Folsom freshman Hanna Beckman sank two free throws to give the Bulldogs a three-point lead with 4.6 seconds left.
Delia Moore had a good look at a three-pointer before the buzzer, but her shot glanced off the front of the rim and the Bulldogs escaped with a win.
“I practice those shots all the time and felt so comfortable taking that shot,” Moore said. “But I knew it was off as soon as it left my fingers.”
The Bulldogs (21-7) advance to Tuesday’s semifinals against No. 1 St. Mary’s (25-0) at the University of the Pacific. The Rams are ranked No. 1 in the nation and showed why with a 113-43 win over No. 8 Modesto Christian on Thursday.
Folsom coach Lynn Wolking was relieved to survive Golden Valley’s second-half charge.
Wolking’s Bulldogs looked in total control after limiting the Cougars to just 10 first-half points and forcing them into 17 turnovers. Folsom led 25-12 midway through the third quarter.
“Then No. 4 (Stephanie Moore) said, ‘Not so fast,’ ” Wolking said. “I only had one game film on (Golden Valley), and it was a game where they came back, and came back confidently, as they finished off the game.
“That’s how these games should be. In the first half, you’re wondering, ‘Why are either of these teams here?’ ”
Golden Valley made just 4 of 23 shots in the second half. Naomi Peterson kept the Cougars in the game, scoring eight of GV’s 10 points.
Folsom managed just 17 points in the first half, but McKenzie Forbes scored eight of her 10 in the second quarter to give the Bulldogs a seven-point lead at halftime.
“Teams up north play a little different than what we see in our area,” Golden Valley coach Matt Thissen said. “We saw the same thing in San Diego and when we played Heritage in the MLK Classic.
“When you don’t see it very often, it takes you time to adjust. In the second half, we were a different team.”
Stephanie Moore became more of a facilitator and attacked the paint, dishing to the Cougars’ post players for easy baskets.
She scored seven of her 11 points in the third quarter and assisted on four other baskets as Golden Valley used a 16-3 run to tie the score at 28-28 heading into the fourth quarter.
River Valley 52, East Union 49 in Manteca – The Lancers’ 17-game winning streak ended as the seventh-seeded Falcons upset No. 2 East Union in a Sac-Joaquin Section Division III matchup.
The Lancers (27-2), who previously lost 54-45 to Stockton’s Venture Academy on Dec. 29 at the Tracy Tournament, struggled to find consistent shooting. Olivia Vezaldenos’ three-pointer with eight seconds to play was East Union’s first of the night. Conversely, River Valley (24-4) hit seven shots from beyond the arc. All told, East Union was 1 for 20 from three-point range and 16 for 58 (28 percent) from the floor. River Valley also held a 50-36 edge in rebounds.
Falcons 6-foot-2 junior Cailyn Francis (16 points) won the matchup of post players, holding East Union 6-2 center Donja Payne to four points. Ruby Daube led the Lancers with 18 points, while Vezaldenos finished a brilliant prep career with 17.
River Valley advances to play No. 3 Rio Linda, a 50-47 winner over Oakmont, on Tuesday.
This story was originally published February 26, 2016 at 6:50 PM with the headline "Golden Valley girls’ rally falls short; East Union upset by River Valley."