How a team bond, do-it-all star made history for Escalon girls basketball
No matter the opponent, the flow of the game or the situation, Escalon has found a way in the 2026 postseason.
Without the program’s all-time leading scorer and Arizona softball signee, Madison Babasa, the Cougars made a deep run in the Sac-Joaquin Section Division IV playoffs, reaching the semifinals. After spending a few days preparing for the state tournament, they took the floor again. As the No. 4 seed in the CIF Northern California Regional bracket, Escalon won its first-round game Tuesday and made history Thursday.
With a 48-37 win over No. 5 Durham (27-5), the Cougars (27-6) went further than any team in program history, advancing to Saturday’s NorCal D-V Regional Semifinal and traveling to the top seed in the region.
The Cougars are running on an abundance of heart, a special team bond and a special player putting together one of the best playoff runs in Northern California.
“Well, we have Ari, other teams don’t,” coach Joe Dalpogetti said. “She’s a superstar, she’s very humble and she plays really hard. She does everything on both ends of the floor.”
Arianna Velasco finished with a game-high 23 points, her fourth straight game with over 20 points, made her mark on the boards and set her teammates up with assists.
She has found her voice as a leader as the season has gone on. The junior is a three-year varsity player who has seen her role increase each year. If leading the team in points, rebounds, assists, steals and blocks wasn’t enough, she’s somehow raised her play in the postseason.
“You could see it tonight in the second half, she was willing to put the team on her back,” Dalpogetti said.
Velasco and Dalpogetti agree that the Cougars’ bond is what wills them to wins.
Thursday night against a Durham team that posed a matchup problem, Escalon trailed by four points after the first quarter and were down 18-17 at halftime.
Late in the third quarter, senior Ayana Cocio and Velasco each knocked down threes, and Velasco converted a three-point play. The 9-2 run was part of a third quarter where the Cougars outscored Durham 21-9, taking a 38-27 lead into the fourth quarter.
With just over three minutes left in the final quarter, Escalon led 41-34 before turning up its defense. The Cougars scored seven unanswered points, capped by a corner three by freshman Avery Bartelink to seal the game. Over the final few minutes, Escalon allowed just three points, sealing the win. Bartelink added 12 points and junior Carli Jones scored seven.
“They don’t want the season to end. They’re not ready to move onto their next sports,” Dalpogetti said. “The seniors aren’t ready to say goodbye, so they’re just rallying around each other.”
The win sends Escalon to the regional semifinals for the first time in school history. Two seasons ago, the Cougars made their first-ever section championship game but fell in the first round of the regional playoffs. The year prior, they made the NorCal second round, but lost to Fall River.
“We want to get to the next practice just because we love each other, we love to be around each other,” Velasco said. “We want to keep being together, so that’s pushing us. Our team culture has a lot to do with what we’re doing here.”
Escalon athletic director Andrew Beam and the school principal approached Dalpogetti early in the week about the possibility of making the trip to No. 1 seed Modoc, but the coach did not want to talk much about it. He didn’t want to get ahead of himself, focusing on the team’s first two opponents before worrying about the possibility of a game against the top team in D-V.
Beam understands this — he’s a multiple-time section and state champion football coach for the Cougars, but at the time, he had his AD hat on. It’s a long trip and some travel arrangements had to be made just in case.
“I said, ‘Hey, we’re not getting ahead of ourselves.’ They said, ‘We have to,’” Dalpogetti said. “They had to do some housekeeping things behind the scenes, but I tried to keep the team focused.”
So days ago, they started making loose plans for the five-hour trek north to Alturas, a city near the Oregon border.
They’ll have their first overnight trip of the season this weekend, to play Modoc. After the game Saturday, they’ll stay in a hotel and make the trip back Sunday.
“We get to take a road trip together, then we get to compete to try to get to a state title, which we’ve never done before,” Velasco said.
It will be fun. Those trips are what players remember the most, not the wins or the losses. But it would be more memorable if they could continue this historic run with an upset victory over the 24-5 North Coast Section champions.
“They’re excited to take a road trip together,” Dalpogetti said. “They’re excited to get a hotel, it’s something they’ve been talking about a lot. … We keep reminding them to have some fun, memories are going to last forever, even if the banners get dust on them, but this is a business trip.”
Durham played Modoc in their section championship, a game the Braves won by 41, but Escalon hopes to figure out its matchups and give them a game.
“I think the furthest we’ve gone (this season) is Elk Grove,” Dalpogetti said. “We have a lot to figure out in the next 12 hours. What we’ve said all week is if we’re going to face this issue, it’s a good problem to have.”
This story was originally published March 6, 2026 at 10:27 AM.
