With little time to practice during the break from school, the California Lady Pintos were encouraged to get together to get in some running.
They did. And that work paid off Tuesday.
"I begged and pleaded with the girls to get together and run," California coach Bobby Sangster said after the Lady Pintos upended the Hermann Lady Bearcats 50-48 in the Capital City Shootout at Fleming Fieldhouse. "And they did that. This is a special team, they will sacrifice for one another, they will play for one another."
Tuesday's win was a true team effort. Everyone who dressed out played and was needed as California employed a pressure defense nearly the entire contest.
"Every girl had a hand in it," Sangster said. "It wasn't perfect all the time, it wasn't pretty all the time, but in the end, we got the win."
It was a back-and-forth contest Tuesday.
California used a 9-1 run early in the game to take a 10-5 lead with 3:14 remaining in the first quarter. But Hermann answered by closing the quarter with an 11-3 spurt of its own to take a 16-13 advantage.
The Lady Pintos rattled off 12 of the first 14 points in the second quarter to take a 25-18 lead. But the Lady Bearcats again answered, outscoring the Lady Pintos 11-5 in the final 4:40 of the half and cut California's lead to 30-29 at intermission.
Hermann then scored the opening basket of the second half to take its first lead since the opening minutes.
But California held Hermann to just one point in the final four minutes of the quarter and Elizabeth Lutz's 3-pointer at the buzzer gave the Lady Pintos a 42-33 lead heading into the final period.
Lutz finished with 13 points and was selected as the game's MVP.
"We're getting used to that from Elizabeth," Sangster said. "She's all about the team."
California maintained that nine-point advantage through the first half of the fourth quarter. But Hermann battled back one final time, cutting its deficit to 49-46 with :35 left on a putback by Quincy Erickson.
A free throw by Cameron Meyer with :07.3 left pushed California's lead to 50-46 before Erickson scored the final points of the game on a layup at the buzzer.
"We can learn from this game, to be able to play and beat a team like Hermann is great to the process," Sangster said.
Eight Lady Pintos scored in the game, while 10 got at least one rebound.
"Our bench has so much fun, the girls make it fun," Sangster said. "These girls have re-engergized me, they have re-energized the California basketball community."
Meyer added 11 points for the Lady Pintos (5-1). California will open play in the Tri-County Conference Tournament against Warsaw at 4 p.m. Friday in Hallsville.
Erickson finished with 13 points for Hermann (5-3, ranked No. 4 in Class 3), while Allison Stiers added 11.