Basketball Defeats Davis at Sleep Train; Prepares for Holy Hoops

News

NATOMAS, Calif. – After a nervous first half, the St. Francis varsity basketball team calmed themselves to hand Davis a 67-59 loss at Sleep Train Arena Friday night as part of a doubleheader at the home of the Sacramento Kings.

“It was such a great experience and it was so fun to watch my tem come together and play as a unit,” said senior Aliyah Williams, who scored two points. “It is exactly what we wanted.”

Senior Kyra Huffman led the team with 22 points, including 15 in the second half to fuel the win for the Troubadours.

“Last year we lost by one (to Davis)  and our whole team , new and old players, wanted to show them we are not going to lose again,” said Huffman. “We played a little rocky at the start but we picked it up. We did really well.”

The Troubadours struggled out of the opening tip, letting Davis build a 19-10 lead after the opening quarter. The Blue Devils (5-8) extended the lead to double digits until St. Francis regained their composure over the final minutes of the half to tie the game at 26 at the break.

“It was a little bit of the jitters,” said Huffman. “Sleep Train is a big place and we have never played here before. After we got the jitters out we were ready to play.”

Senior Lauren Craig added 18 points in the win, aided by a 10-for-14 performance at the line, while junior guard Janae Fairbrook contributed 14 points.

“Our defense really improved and running the floor was a really big part of the game,” said Huffman.

St. Francis built their lead to double digits in the second half before Davis rallied in the final minutes to close the gap. But the Troubadours prevailed to improve to 11-2 on the season.

“In the second half we really got our heads in the game,” said Williams. “We got use to the feel of playing on a big court and our nerves calmed down. We were really nervous in the first half.”

St. Francis will need to regroup quickly with their rivalry game against Christian Brothers on Saturday at 5:30. p.m. The game will be televised locally on a tape-delayed basis on Access Sacramento to be shown on Tuesday night at 7 p.m. The game is sold out.

“I am super excited,” said Williams.

St. Francis 67, Davis 59 1 2 3 4 F
St. Francis 10 16 16 25 67
Davis 19 7 13 20 59

SF- Huffman 22, Craig 18, Fairbrook 14, Koerwitz 4, Nicolos 3, Razo 2, Ortiz 2, Williams 2. D – Forrester 23, Satre 16, Malone 6, Belenes 4, Gylsvig 3, Voss 2, Allison 5.