Basketball Pulls Away on West Campus to Win 66-53

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SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Junior Janae Fairbrook scored 16 second-half points to help St. Francis post a 66-53 victory over West Campus Monday night in the Sac-Joaquin Section Foundation game.

“I was feeling it and it was really cool to see my team feeding off my energy,” said Fairbrook.

Tied at 24 at the half and holding just a four-point lead heading into the final quarter, Fairbrook scored eight points in the final quarter as the Troubadours pulled away from the Warriors. She finished with a game-high 19 points with five three-pointers on the night.

St. Francis jumped out to a 15-4 lead in the first quarter but West Campus fought back to tie the game at the half. Cookie Marques scored 15 points in the second and third quarters to lead the comeback.

“We made some adjustments and were able to get out on their shooters more effectively,” said Head Coach Vic Pitton. “We have some things to iron out defensively. Offensively we moved the ball well other than the second quarter. We found the mismatches better in the second half.”

St. Francis out-scored West Campus 21-12 over the final period.

“We talked a lot more on defense in the second half and communicated where she was,” said Hay. “We were able to realize our mismatches caused by our height. We were able to hit Kyra (Huffman), Lauren (Craig) and Angie (Ortiz) – all the big players.”

Lauren Craig contributed 12 points and Julia Razo added nine points. Freshman Jackie Koerwitz scored seven points in her prep debut.

“We were able to find the open man and Janae was on fire,” said Tia Hay. “She was hitting all her threes. I was able to find her and other people found her and it worked.”

Hay also played her first game at St. Francis, scoring eight points and recording several assists.

“It was pretty intense and it was cool,” said Hay. “It was fun and the atmosphere was cool. Day by day and game by game we will get better and hopefully more crowds will come check us out.”

Pitton was impressed by the play of Hay, who moved to Sacramento from Australia, in her American prep debut.

“She is able to distribute the ball and get everyone involved,” said Pitton. “She has a great vision of what is occurring on the floor and can get the ball to people in the best places. It is a great attribute. She is going to be a great player for us this year.”

Pitton credited Hay and Razo for their overall play in the game.

“Janae was open and she made them pay for that and I thought Julia played a really superb game,” said Pitton.

St. Francis starts play in a three-day tournament hosted by Folsom and Vista del Lago starting on Wednesday.

St. Francis 66. West Campus 53 1 2 3 4 F
West Campus 4 20 17 12 53
St. Francis 15 9 21 21 66

SF –Fairbrook 19, Craig 12, Razo 9, Hay 8, Koerwitz 7; Huffman 6, Ortiz 5. WC – Jefferson 16, Marques 15, Adams 7, Cox 6, Dobson-Myers 6, Dent 2, Brown 1.