The California High School boys and girls basketball teams were on the road Monday night for games in the first round of the 27th Annual Eugene Invitational, where both the Pintos and Lady Pintos came away victorious.
California's varsity girls, the top seed, defeated #6 seeded Versailles 82-22.
"I'm very proud of how the girls battled," California Coach Bobby Sangster said. "They did a great job of executing."
The Lady Pintos got off to an early 27-3 lead after one quarter, and led 51-14 at the half. California held Versailles to eight points in the second half, while scoring 31 points to secure the win.
Kelsey Roush led California with 15 points, followed by Kayla Allison with 13, including three 3-pointers. Morgan Henley scored 12 points, all 3-pointers, and Kamryn Koetting chipped in with 10.
California will play Russellville (#4 seed) at 6:30 p.m. today (Wednesday).
California's varsity boys, the #3 seed, defeated #6 seeded St. Elizabeth 72-53 Monday night. The Pintos led 24-9 after the first quarter and 38-19 at the half. After an even 15-15 third quarter and 19-19 fourth quarter, the Pintos came away with the win.
"Considering we've only had six practices, I don't think we did too bad," California Coach Blair Scanlon said. "I honestly didn't know what to expect. I saw a lot more good than bad."
The Pintos were led by Damon Shaw with 14 points, followed by Dylan Albertson with 13. Drew Norton and Jerry Lutz each had 10 points, while Jaden Barr added nine.
Braydon Holtmeyer led St. Elizabeth with 19 points, followed by Travis Miner with 16.
The Pintos hit 15 of 22 free throws.
California will play the winner of the Russellville-Blair Oaks game (played Tuesday, Dec. 3) at 9 p.m. Thursday, while the Hornets will play the loser today (Wednesday) at 8 p.m.
"I think we'll have to step up our game Thursday," Scanlon said. "We've got two days of practice to prepare."
Other Monday night action at the Eugene Tourney included the following: in the girls division, Boonville defeated Russellville 61-43, and Blair Oaks defeated Eugene 53-25.
In JV action Monday at the Eugene Invitational, the Lady Pintos defeated Blair Oaks 49-27, while the Pintos defeated St. Elizabeth 55-30.
California's JV girls will play Russellville at 5 p.m. today (Wednesday), while the JV boys will play at 7:30 p.m. Thursday.
The championship games will be played Friday; the girls at 7:30 p.m., with the boys to follow at 9 p.m.