West Coast Jamboree

The Lady Eagles participated in one of the largest varsity tournaments in the United States this last week. In reality it is a number of tournaments, at all levels, from various states and played at a number of high schools. Turlock Christian played in the "Garnet" division and played schools that were thought to be about at the same level as the Eagles. I will be summarizing the games starting with the most resent (or final game) to the most distance (the opening game).

Fremont Christian vs Turlock Christian (Game 3)

The Eagles ended the West Coast Jamboree on a winning note, defeating Fremont Christian 37-24. The victory gave the Lady Eagles 8 wins and 3 losses in the pre-season schedule. The Fremont girls looked more athletic, bigger, and just a bit scary during warm-up, but you gotta play the game and our girls did and their girls didn't. The speed, rebounding, and over-all attitude of the Eagles was to much for the Warriors. After a 6 to 6 1st quarter the TC girls proved to much by beating Fremont in the remaining quarters. The team's shooting slump continued but outstanding defense led to the victory. The Eagles dominated the rebounding with a team total of 53 and had 13 steals.

Outstanding individual performances included:

Points scored: Erin Santiago (13) and Amy Wright (8).
Rebounds: Kaisa Spycher (13), Amy Wright (10) and Marly Burton (8).
Assists: Molly Farrar and Erin (2).
Steals: Erin (5).
Blocked Shots: Molly Zuhlke (2)

Cornerstone Christian (Antioch) vs Turlock Christian (Game 2)

On Monday the TC Eagles faced the tournament host Cornerstone Christian and won their 8th game of the year. The Lady Eagles began the game in a full court press but quickly abandoned that strategy due to the Cougars in ability to break it. After one quarter the Eagles led 13-0 (some fans were wondering if a shut-out were possible) and were leading 26-4 at half. The game was dominated by TC and ended as 57-12 victory. The team continued to struggle in the shooting department (28% for the game) but an overwhelming defense gave Cornerstone no chance. The team did great on the boards, pulling down a total of 57, and the defense ended the game with 35 steals.

Outstanding Individual Performances Included:

Steals: Candice Balswick (10 which is the best this year in a single game), Erin Santiago (7), and Molly Farrar (6).
Blocks: Molly Zuhlke (4) and Kaisa Spycher (3).
Assists: Molly F. (4), Erin (3), and Kara Gabrielson (3).
Points: Molly F. (13), Erin (13) and Candice (9.

Drew vs Turlock Christian (Game 1)

Drew, with only 6 players, shocked the TC Eagles 21-26 in the first game of the West Coast Jamboree. They appeared to be smaller, slower, and less skilled than the Lady Eagles but in the end they were the better team. TC had their worst shooting night of the year, just 13% from the floor, and the end result was a defeat. Drew played hard and rode the hot shooting of their point to victory.

Outstanding Individual Performances Included:

Points: Erin Santiago (8).
Assists: Erin (3) and Molly Farrar (2).
Steals: Candice Balswick (5) and Molly F. (5).
Rebounds: Erin (12), Emily Breuss (10) and Marly Burton (7).
Blocks: Kaisa Spycher (3).

The girls ended the tournament with the consolation championship of the Garnet Division (5th place). Good job:)

I apologize for the lag time in the blog. I had a number of parents (1) complain about no posting by the time they got home after the game. A laptop computer and the inability to type and stay connected to the Internet while driving has proven to be difficult to overcome:)

Eagles Take 3rd @ Bradshaw Jamboree

The Lady Eagles played at the Bradshaw Christian Basketball Jamboree over the weekend, taking 3rd place out of a very strong field. The tournament field include Bradshaw Christian, last year's Sac-Joaquin Section Division V Champions and Wilton Christian the sections runner-up. The Eagles opened the tournament against Victory Christian, a team that on paper appeared to match up well with TC, but on the court could not stay with the Eagles. The final score was TC 47 and Victory 23.

Outstanding Performance included:

Points Scored: Erin Santiago (17), Amy Wright (12) and Kaisa Spycher (8)
Rebounds: Amy (9), Erin (6) and Molly Zuhlke (6)
Assists: Kara Gabrielson (4), Tiffany Snyder (4) and Erin (4)
Steals: Kara (7) and Molly Farrar (4)
Blocks: Amy (2), Kaisa (2), and Molly Z (2)

The second night of the tournament had a different outcome. The Lady Eagles faced the Bradshaw Pride and lost 20-47. TC held the Pride to its lowest point total of the season, taking at least a "point of pride" victory from the game. The great advantage that Bradshaw had was a group of very good and very aggressive athletes that were allowed to be extremely physical by officials who called only 12 fouls the entire night. TC was playing against 7 players when the caliber of officiating was considered.

Outstanding Performance included:

Points: Erin (14)
Rebounds: Kaisa (8), Emily Breuss (6), Marly Burton (6) and Molly Z (5)
Steals: Amy (4)
Blocks: Marly (2), and Molly Z (2)

Saturday night was apparently the night to attend a game if one was only going to one. The Eagles beat Encina 72-69 in overtime. This reporter, stats person, and parent had other obligations (a Christmas gathering with dear friends --- planned by my wife and I --- What were we thinking? Dear friends or a basketball game? No real doubt what is more important. --- Sorry I digress) The Eagles played a very athletic Bulldog team and were trailing by 11 with five minutes left in the fourth quarter. At this point, one witness told me, Molly Farrar and Candice Balswick had a fire in their eyes that said, "No one is going to stop us". Molly F and Candice had somewhere near 20 to 30 steals between them in a five minute span, this is what one parent who attended the game told me. The actual count for the game was Molly (5) and Candice (4). Behind the great defense of these two athletes the Eagles came back and won.

Outstanding Performances included:

Points: Erin Santiago (24), Candice (16), Amy Wright (15) and Molly F (11).
Assists: Erin (4).
Steals: Molly F (5) and Candice (4).

I would like to put a couple of special thanks out there for Dan "I'll never do stats again" Farrar for doing stats and Eric Spycher for telling me that it was the greatest girls game he, but not I, had ever seen:-(

TC vs LeGrand via the Turlock Journal

For those of us who do not get the Journal there was a nice article in the December 17th edition about the LeGrand game. Just click the link to see the article by Matthew Parrott

LeGrand @ TC in the Turlock Journal

Bradshaw Christian Tournament

The Lady Eagles won their first game at the Bradshaw Christian Basketball Jamboree on Thursday night. This is just a brief summary of the results:

TC 47 Victory 23



Outstanding defensive performance by Kara Gabrielson with the most steals in a game for a Lady Eagle this year with 7.

Look for a more detailed description of the tournament on Sunday.

Eagles Defeated in Southern League Opener

The Le Grand Bulldogs, the pre-season favorite to win the Southern League, visited TC on Monday night and the Eagles ended up in the Dog house. Le Grand, led by all district player Jennifer Hansen, did the majority of the damage in the 1st half, leading 25-12 at the break. TC managed to outscore the Bulldogs in the second half but could not erase the halftime lead. The first half was dominated by a very aggressive full court press, lots of Le Grand fouls, and a technical foul on the Bulldog's coach. The technical apparently was a positive, for the Bulldogs, as the officials called very few fouls on Le Grand after that. The final score was Le Grand 42 and Turlock Christian 31. Le Grand played well and deserves the pre-season accolades but the Eagles played evenly most of the game. The Bulldogs may be the Southern League favorites but the Eagles can play with them. That's why they play the season and don't pass out league championships in November.

The top performances of the night include the following:

Points: Erin Santiago (10), Amy Wright (7), and Candice Balswick (6).
Blocked Shots: Kaisa Spycher (3) and Molly Zuhlke (1).
Rebounds: Amy (12) and Kaisa (6)
Steals: Candice (5)


The Mollies and Kara Chillin Before the LeGrand Game
- Photo taken with broken camera -

(This is how desperate I am for photos.)


The Eagles travel to the Bradshaw tournament on Thursday where they face Victory Christian in the 1st round. Victory and TC have one common opponent in Jim Elliot Christian with similar victories. It should be an evenly matched contest. Make the drive to Sacramento and support the team.

The Eagles Win Consolation Championship @ Own Tourny

The Lady Eagles continue their winning ways going 2 and 1 in the TC / 7up Varsity Tournament.

The tournament started off with a tough loss to Central Valley High of Ceres. The girls led by a point at halftime but a cold second half resulted in a 25-32 loss. The team shot a very low 20% and the lack of scoring could not be overcome despite an outstanding defensive night. The Eagles struggled against the quickness of the Hawk's full court press and extend half court defense resulted in 34 turnovers. Bright spots for the team included Erin Santiago's 14 rebounds and Amy Wright's 12 rebounds. Aubrey Larson contributed 4 steals on the night. The defense continued to impress and the girls hung tough throughout the contest. Hey, we didn't really expect to go undefeated did we? :-)

Day 2 of the tournament went a bit better then day 1 with a 41-33 win over the Summerville Bears. The Eagles jumped out to a 18-5 lead after the 1st quarter and the contest was never really in question. Erin scored 17 points and Amy had 9. Kaisa Spycher had an outstanding night of rebounding with 11 and Erin had 9. The defense continued to overwhelm their opponents with outstanding performances by Aubrey Larson (3 steals), Amy Wright, Kaisa Spycher, and Molly Zuhlke with 2 steals each. Great D girls:)

Day 3 ended with the tournament consolation championship. The defense again came through for the Eagles. The Wolves of Livingston led 23-21 after 3 quarters of play but the Eagles would not give up and won the game by taking the 4th quarter 12-6 and winning the contest 33-29. A balanced offense was lead by Erin and Molly Farrar's 8 points each and Amy and Candance Balswick's 6 points each. Other outstanding performances were:

Rebounds: Molly Farrar, Erin Staniago (8), Kaisa Spycher, Amy Wright (7), and Marley Burton (6).
Steals: Molly F (4), Kara Gabrielson (3), and Erin (3)
Blocked Shots: Molly Zuhlke (3) and Marly Burton (2)

Erin Stantiago was named to the All-Tournament team having averaged 10.7 points and 10.7 rebounds per game. Congratulations Erin and the Lady Eagles for a great tournament.

Eagles vs Eagles

The Turlock Christian Lady Eagles faced the Eagles of Jim Elliot and flew much higher. The Eagles (TC) continued to win as they improved their record to 3 wins and 0 losses. They face a public school, Central Valley High of Ceres, for the first time in the opening game of the 7-up / Turlock Christian Tournament on Thursday night.

The Eagles had another outstanding game winning 59-16 over Jim Elliot.

High scorers: Erin Santiago (14), Amy Wright (13)
Assists: Molly Farrar (5), Tiffany Snyder (3)
Steals: Candance Balswick (5), Aubrey Larson (4), Molly Farrar (4)
Rebounds: Kaisa Spycher (14), Amy Wright (12), Aubrey Larson (10), Marley Burton (9)
Blocked Shots: Marley Burton (4)

The game appeared to be a good match up after the first few minutes with the score 5-4 Jim Elliot. TC then ran off 21 unanswered points to end the first half ahead 37-7. Coach Santiago used the entire team liberally. Great job girls:-)

Come out and see the girls play against Central Valley in the opening game of the TC tournament on Thursday night.

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Hi Everyone,

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Lady Eagles Win Again

The Lady Eagles rolled to their third victory of the season 71 to 19. The Brookside Christian team was out matched by a more experienced TC squad that showed little difference between the starters and the bench. The Knights tired as the Eagles just kept getting stronger.

The team leaders were:
Scoring; Erin Santiago (25 pts), Amy Wright (12 pts), and Aubrey Larson (8 pts).
Rebounding: Molly Zuhlke (13 RBs), Amy Wright (9 RBs) and Kara Gabrielson (9 RBs).
Steals: Candice Balswick (5 steals)

For a closer look at the game just click Brookside vs Turlock Christian to be taken to the games box score at MaxPreps.

Great job!