Following a sloppy first half by both teams Monday night, Atwater more than doubled its first-half output in the third quarter and ran away with a 63-37 non-league girls’ basketball win over East Union at Dalben Center.
“We came out super flat and couldn’t hit a shot to save our lives,” Falcons coach Leonard Davis said. “We didn’t have any energy. I guess they didn’t like my halftime speech where I told them we would be getting up early and conditioning before our next game unless they chose to come out and play the second half.
“Defense has been our big emphasis this year. We have switched up and are playing man-to-man defense and are going after it.”
While the offense may have been sluggish for Atwater (5-0) in the first half, the Falcons defense was anything but sluggish as they forced 22 turnovers by halftime and 42 on the night.
“You play a team like that and they get after you,” Lancers coach Jim Agostini said. “We still don’t have our whole team together and we’re not quite ready to go yet.
“Our energy is good but you have to value the basketball a little bit better.”
East Union (0-3) led 14-12 in the second quarter and trailed just 15-13 at halftime, but a 15-2 run by the Falcons to start the third quarter cemented the game for Atwater.
Donja Payne led East Union with a double-double, scoring 10 points with 16 rebounds. Sarah Gleockler (seven rebounds), Lauren Pablo, Nina Murphy (three steals) and Ashley Martin (four rebounds) added five points each for the Lancers.
Lex Valencia of the Falcons led all scorers with 14 points and Kelsey Valencia added 11 of her 13 points in the third quarter.
Enochs 71, Ripon 51
MODESTO – The Eagles outscored the Indians 24-13 in the second quarter to take the lead in the non-league contest.
Reina Sausedo led Ripon with 14 points and Mackenzie Hutchinson added 12 points. Enochs’ Ale Martinez led all scorers with 16 points.
Junior Varsity
Atwater 60, East Union 19
Danielle James led the Lancers with 13 points.
Freshman
East Union 35, Atwater 29
Faith Money-Munoz paced the Lancers with 10 points and Gisel Velazquez added six points.
