TRACY — Donja Payne amassed 23 points and 13 rebounds in limited action Wednesday, helping the East Union girls basketball team open up a big lead it rode out to a 48-17 rout of Tokay in the first round of the Tracy Breakfast Lions/Tom Hawkins Tournament.
The Tigers (6-6) of Lodi were held to single digits in every quarter and found themselves well behind 19-2 after the first. East Union is now on a three-game winning streak.
“Good, solid team defense,” East Union coach Jim Agostini said. “It’s something we’ve worked on for the last week and a half. The girls got tired of defending each other in practice, so now is a good time to do it against other people for four games.”
Hailey Gosney contributed nine points on the offensive end, and eight of 12 Lancers scored. Katie Price paced Tokay with six points.
East Union gets to play a familiar foe today back at Tracy High’s Swenson Gym. The Lancers square off with annual Hoops for a Cure Classic opponent Ripon starting at 5.
“It’ll be a very interesting game,” Agostini said. “Both teams are looking forward to it.”
Beyer 50, Sierra 45
Down by as much as 21 in the second half, the Timberwolves (4-6) mounted a late-game charge to make things interesting.
Beyer (6-3) carried a 46-25 lead into the fourth quarter.
“Beyer has some great players,” Sierra coach Larissa Founts-Bergerson said. “If we can play fourth-quarter basketball all the time we will be happy with the outcome.”
Dulce Cruz and Jordan Hayter scored nine points each for Sierra. Sunny Dhaliwal contributed seven, consisting of a 3-pointer and a perfect 4-for-4 effort from the foul line. The T’wolves will look to bounce back at 9 a.m. today against Modesto.
Tracy 70, Ripon 62
Tournament host Tracy (3-7) fed the hot hand of Alyissa Escobar, who drilled eight 3-pointers on her way to a 36-point performance.
The Indians (8-1), who suffered their first loss of the season, were ahead 50-40 after three quarters before succumbing to Tracy’s 30-point barrage in the fourth. Escobar fired 13 of her points in crunch time, including three 3s.
Reina Sausedo poured in 21 points, nine rebounds and four assists for Ripon. Mia Van Lewen added 16 points and 11 rebounds. Tianna Sidtukun contributed with 11 points. Despite the loss, the Indians will advance to the winner’s bracket. They were originally not matched with Tracy in the opening round, but two teams pulled out of the tournament to force scheduling changes.
