Escalon falls short to powerhouse Colfax in first ever section title game appearance
Just six months ago the chance at a section title didn’t seem possible for the Escalon High girls basketball team.
They went 0-10 against local high schools in the Delta College Summer League with a team of varsity and JV players they scraped together.
But coach Joe Dalpogetti knew what he had waiting for him once November rolled around: a group of multi-sport athletes who would turn the team from a struggling summer outfit to league champions.
Fast forward to late February and the Cougars are one of the best teams in the section with 28 wins and just three losses, co-Trans Valley League champs, a No. 3 seed in the Division IV section tournament and a section finalist for the first time in school history.
“As much as I love the community and I love coaching here and I would never leave, I just never thought that I would see the day that we were going to the section championship game,” Dalpogetti said after Escalon’s semifinals win. “The team is more of a family than a team and they really just care about each other. I’m just proud of the girls.”
The Cougars’ dream season continued Friday in the Sac-Joaquin Section D-IV championship against top-seed Colfax. They remained competitive throughout the contest but were ultimately undone by nerves, missed shots and a fourth quarter unraveling as Colfax pulled away late to win 64-48.
The team felt the severity of the moment early. Dalpogetti, who is in his 13th season as varsity coach, noticed.
“We tried to do some visualization and breathing techniques in the locker room before,” he said. “I could tell they were nervous. I could see the looks on their faces.”
Senior Macie Vickers was one of the additions after the summer.
The three-sport star spends the hottest months of the year playing travel softball, the sport she will play at the University of Nebraska next year. In the fall, she plays volleyball. This year, she didn’t join the team for preseason or most of TVL play, missing about 19 games with a back injury. She wasn’t 100% upon her return but vowed to help her team reach a section championship.
Vickers attacked the basket all night, shooting 9-of-11 on free throws and finishing with 15 points and 10 rebounds.
The Cougars slowed the game down in the first half, thanks in part to the time Vickers spent at the free throw line. A late personal and technical foul allowed Colfax to score three free points, but upset-minded Escalon remained in striking distance, trailing by just eight, 29-21, at halftime.
“We made history,” Dalpogetti said of making the section finals. “I’m proud of this team.”
Arianna Velasco is a freshman but didn’t play like it.
In the semifinals against West Campus, she guarded the Warriors best player, a senior, holding her below her scoring average. Friday she was the team’s leading scorer, contributing 16 points on 6-of-11 shooting.
At the end of the third quarter, it felt like they were still in reach, trailing 46-35.
“We have good players and I thought we were actually getting high-quality shots,” Dalpogetti said. “I bet if you look at the shot chart, we had a lot of (shots) with both feet in the paint, we just were not knocking them down.”
Colfax has been there, done that.
The girls small school dynasty made its 42nd consecutive playoff appearance and won its 13th blue banner. The only program with more is St. Mary’s.
The Falcons pulled away in the fourth quarter thanks to stingy defense, rebounding and runouts. Colfax out-rebounded Escalon 56-32, had 23 second chance points and 36 points in the paint. Junior Juliette James scored a game-high 18 points and grabbed 17 rebounds, Junior guard Kaia Diederichs had 17 points, five rebounds, three assists and two steals and junior guard Laurlyn Massick had 10 points and 18 rebounds. Senior Jade Biittner posted 11 points, eight rebounds, eight assists and played solid defense, holding the Cougars leading scorer to eight points.
“It looked like a team who’s been here before versus a team that hasn’t been here before,” said Dalpogetti. “That’s what I felt going into the fourth. I felt like we had been the more experienced team in a lot of our games because we had five playoff games last year. … Usually when the game gets crazy at the end, we can be the calming team and take control, but it was flipped tonight. They were the ones executing and we were the ones who had to make it as frenetic as possible.”
The Cougars advance to the CIF State Northern California Regional tournament and will find out their opponent Sunday. Their first game is Tuesday.
“I told the girls to be upset as much as you want today and tomorrow,” Dalpogetti said. “I’m sure we’ll be in the group chat Sunday talking about who we’re playing. They’re warriors, they want to win.”
