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:)