Basketball Clinches Share of Delta League Title

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ELK GROVE, Calif. – The St. Francis basketball team clinched a share of the Delta League championship with a 90-60 win at Sheldon Friday night. The Troubadours (20-4, 11-0) remained undefeated in league play with three games remaining in the regular season with a three-game lead in the standings.

“Anytime you go undefeated in any league it is a good feeling,” said Head Coach Vic Pitton. “We still have three more games and the story is not written. We have work to do. But through this part of the season, I am very proud of our young ladies.”

St. Francis built an early lead but Sheldon stayed in the game as Jzane Cavalli-Money hit three triples in the first quarter. She finished with a game-high 27 points on nine three-pointers in the game.

“I told them to keep up the energy,” said Pitton. “We were really working hard and it was all going to come together. Fatigue was going to be a factor for the other team because we had so much depth. It was not our best defensive performance but I wanted to keep things going. The offense was really clicking. It was fun to watch.”

The Troubadours opened the second with an 11-0 run to push their lead to 32-14. Julia Razo hit three triples in the period and Marlee Nicolos, Kyra Huffman and Lauren Craig each had multiple baskets.

Freshman Jackie Koerwitz, who had six points in the game, helped spark the first half with some key assists and rebounds.

“Jackie is very unselfish,” said Pitton. “With her length and her quickness she is able to create passing angles. Janae (Fairbrook) and Marlee (Nicolos) are great point guards and pile up the assists, but Jackie is able to throw a pass most girls are not able to do.”

Craig led the team with 21 points and added to her career point and rebound totals that have both cleared 1,000 in each category over the last week.

“Lauren is absolutely unstoppable,” said Koerwitz. “I have never seen anyone guard her and actually shut her down. She does everything: she rebounds, she can dribble, she passes and she can shoot. She can do anything. It is awesome that she can contribute so much her senior year.”

Twelve players scored in the contest and the five freshmen made an appearance together at the end of the first half.

“I asked Coach Vic if all the freshmen could go in together and he told me to wait because it will happen during the season,” said Koerwitz about a request earlier this season. “It happened and it was really fun.”

St. Francis will look to clinch the title outright when they return to the court next week. But the team celebrated their accomplishment after the game.

“We for sure tied for the title so we will have a banner hanging in St. Francis,” said Koerwitz. “It is awesome we won one in my first year and hopefully will win more in years to come.”

St. Francis 90, Sheldon 60 1 2 3 4 F
St. Francis 21 25 17 27 90
Sheldon 14 15 16 15 60

SF- Craig 21, Razo 13, Huffman 11, Fairbrook 11, Ortiz 8, Nicolos 6, Koerwitz 6, Williams 6, Pank 3, Deterding 2, Brennan 2, Kelly 1. S -Cavalli-Money 27, Mendoza 20, Barbero 6, Dodd 4, Almazon 2, Burnett-Barnett.