Falcons fluster Lady Blue Devils
By Owen Yancher,
Bluedevilhub.com Staff–
A combination of poor shooting and careless Davis turnovers helped Christian Brothers defeat the Davis High women’s basketball team 63-47 in Sacramento on Wednesday, Dec. 23.
Leading the Devil offense with 13 points was sophomore Kelsey Forrester. Behind her with 11 points was senior Faith Harlan, and another eight came from junior Cara Satre. Despite the ample scoring, a team total of 32 turnovers kept the ball out of Davis’ grip most of the contest.
“We didn’t give ourselves opportunities in the first half,” head coach Heather Highshoe said. “We hurt ourselves not playing our game and not coming out strong.”
DHS was able to get on the scoreboard early with a crisp lay-in from junior Anika Kingsley, but five minutes without a Devil score put the Falcons ahead by eight. After a pair of free throws from Forrester and an acrobatic assist from senior Anna Belenis to junior Cara Satre, the first quarter ended 13-6.
Christian Brothers dug deeper into their lead, holding the Devils scoreless for another four minutes to start the second quarter. Kingsley restarted the Devil offense with back to back scores, but a triplet of threes by the Falcons created a 29-10 deficit for the Devils to overcome with three minutes left in the half.
Harlan returned the favor with a highlight reel-worthy closely-contested three. She also stole the ball a few possessions later and set up Forrester for a wide-open layup. Christian Brothers led at half 36-17.
When all hope seemed lost, the Devil defense turned the tables and put the Christian Brothers offense on a temporary lockdown. Starting the third quarter on a four-minute 9-0 run, sophomore Grace Gulsvig kicked the ball out to Belenis for a slick floater to get things going. Junior Delaney Davis showcased her speed on a breakaway layup and junior Tessa Malone had a demoralizing block which she controlled and relayed to Forrester for a triple.
“They definitely turned it around to start the second half,” Highshoe said. “That’s the level we need to be playing at all the time.We need to give ourselves more opportunities by taking care of the ball.”
After Harlan hit another three later in the quarter, the Falcons began double-teaming her, only to regret fouling her on a later three point attempt. Harlan nailed all three of her free-throws. In spite of the DHS offensive charge, the Devils still trailed 53-34 at the conclusion of the third quarter.
The fourth quarter was a display of muscle by Davis. A myriad of offensive rebounds led to some impressive second chance points. Belenis and Kinglsey aided the Devil defense with some blocks. Forrester had one as well, absolutely enveloping a Falcon shot attempt, invigorating the Blue Devil bench.
Other scoring contributors Wednesday were Kinglsey with six, while Davis, Belenis, Malone and senior Rachael Allison added two apiece. Belenis led the team with three assists and Satre grabbed a team high five boards. Juniors Maria Voss, Davis and Malone also had four rebounds each.
Junior Sarah Grahn played in her first game of the season Wednesday night after nursing a foot injury for many weeks. “She can help us a lot,” Highshoe said. “She’s someone that’ll look to shoot and can be a great defender as well.”
Davis now travels to San Diego for the Hoop Classic tournament starting Monday, Dec. 28. The team will be without junior Alyssa Lengtat, who was sidelined with an ankle injury she sustained last week at the Piedmont tournament. She should be back in the lineup by early January.
League play begins Jan. 5 at home against Elk Grove.
