RANCHO CORDOVA — East Union girls basketball coach Jim Agostini let his players call the shots out of halftime Monday and it paid dividends in a 59-45 victory over Rancho Cordova.

The 3-0 Lancers outscored Cordova 21-9 in the third quarter to blow it open after trailing 26-23 at the break. East Union started slowly, falling behind 15-9 in the opening quarter.

“It’s early in the year and we’re trying to see what works for us,” Agostini said. “The slow start was more on the coach than on the players. In the third quarter we allowed our players to communicate to us, and one made a suggestion to try another type of defense and it worked out extremely well.”

Rube Daube led the onslaught with 21 points and five steals. Donja Payne contributed 12 points, 15 rebounds and four blocks. Hailey Gosney chipped in 11 points and four steals. Kelsie Graf scored 17 points to pace Cordova.

East Union will look to keep it rolling tonight when it plays host to Grace Davis of Modesto.

Sophomore

Weston Ranch Tournament

Lathrop came away with the tournament title after downing host Weston Ranch 61-34 on Saturday.

Jordan Corner led the way with 16 points, Krystal Tempra poured in 14 and Kryshara Gray added 12 in the balanced effort. Lathrop also defeated Bear Creek 40-37 and the Weston Ranch freshmen, 28-16.

“As always we were led by our defense all tournament,” Lathrop coach Danielle Wiseman said. “Our ability to stop teams and score off of their mistakes is our blueprint for every game.”    

Freshman

Weston Ranch Tournament

Lathrop’s freshman squad got valuable experience playing against all sophomore teams in the tournament. The Spartans lost to Tokay 35-23, Bret Harte 22-21 and Bear Creek 45-19.

Lathrop was a late fill-in after having scrimmages get canceled.

“We competed very well and came so close to winning two of our games,” Lathrop coach Dwayne Davis said. “I was a little worried going in but the girls were excited and weren’t intimidated.”