Lady Devils dog Huskies for first league win
By Owen Yancher,
Bluedevilhub.com Staff–
Tuesday night was more of a conditioning practice than an actual game for the Davis High women’s basketball team, as they demolished the Sheldon Huskies (5-11, 0-3) 50-27 in Sacramento on Jan 12. With the win, Davis improved to 6-8 overall and 1-2 in the Delta League.
Besides a weak second quarter, when DHS put up only a measly six points, Davis terrorized the Huskies on the offensive end. The Lady Blue Devils knew who the Huskies best shooters were and were able to easily neutralize them.
Nine of the 13 players on the Blue Devil roster got their names in the scoring column. Sophomore Kelsey Forrester led the locals with 11 points, junior Cara Satre poured in nine, senior Anna Belenis totaled eight and junior Alyssa Lengtat finished with five.
Junior Anika Kingsley passed up a few dunk opportunities in order to better involve her teammates.
“All week at practice we worked to move the ball quickly to our more open teammates,” Kingsley said. “We definitely exemplified that in today’s game.”
Davis jumped out to a quick start against Sheldon, outscoring the Huskies 12-3 in the first quarter. However, besides an early basket from Satre, DHS was held scoreless in the second quarter until the final minute and a half before intermission.
Davis stayed in rhythm throughout the second half, outscoring Sheldon 14-9 and 18-9 in the third and fourth quarters.
Rebounding has been an issue for DHS thus far this season. Opponents have capitalized on second chance scoring opportunities and hurt Davis late in games. However, on Tuesday night, the Lady Blue Devils looked much better and limited Sheldon’s chances.
“If we continue to stay strong underneath the hoop we’ll be an extremely powerful team on the boards, especially with all the height we have this year,” Kingsley said.
That height is provided by seven DHS girls, each standing at five-foot-nine or taller. Kingsley and junior Tessa Malone measure up at six-foot; considering the height options that head coach Heather Highshoe has to play around with, the DHS rebounding issue has been an unpleasant enigma.
But Davis isn’t the only Delta League team with size; current league-leader St. Francis has only one player listed as shorter than five-foot-eight on their roster.
“We know what it takes to be a top competitor in our league,” Kingsley said. “We’re pumped to get this win and hopefully we can pool this energy with the energy from our two previous losses and play more passionately in these next games.”
Davis now moves on to a non-league matchup versus Pleasant Valley at home on Thursday, Jan. 14.
