The California Pintos girls team earned its first win of the season at its first home game of the year. The team defeated the Centralia Panthers 52-41 on Nov. 26. The Pintos move to 1-1 on the young season with the win.
The Pintos defeated a good team, California head coach Bobby Sangster said. "Centralia is a very good team, and we handled the adversity," he said.
Early on, it was a low scoring affair, as California trailed 8-1 with 4:20 left in the first quarter. The Pintos cut the lead down to five points at 8-3 with just over 3:30 left in the quarter. The Pintos scored all of their first three points from the free throw line, and got their first field goal with just under 3 minutes left to make it a 10-6 game. That would stay the score heading into the second quarter.
In the second quarter, the Pintos cut into the Panthers' lead. The Pintos tied the game at 10-10 with under seven minutes to go before halftime. Later, the Pintos took their first lead of the game after a bucket by Makayla Schanzmeyer gave California a 12-10 lead. Centralia then nailed a three-pointer to take the lead right back at 13-12, but a layup by Trishelle Porter reclaimed a 14-13 lead for the Pintos with around 4:30 left in the second quarter. Centralia regained the lead at 15-14, but baskets by Schanzmeyer and Paige Lamm gave the Pintos a slim 18-15 lead. The Pintos gained a little breathing room after a three-pointer by Bailey Lage made it a 21-17 game with just over 2 minutes to go before halftime. California entered halftime up 22-19.
The Pintos began to pull away in the third quarter as they went on a 7-2 run to extend their lead to 29-21. Centralia cut the lead down to 34-27 with just around under 1 minute to go in the quarter. But the Pintos added to their lead until they were up by 10 points at 37-27. The Pintos held their largest lead of the game at 12 points with the score at 39-27, but Centralia got it back down to 10 points to make it a 39-29 game heading into the fourth quarter.
The Pintos started the fourth quarter with some tough defense as they blocked a shot on the first two possessions for the Panthers. However, the team was unable to completely pull away as Centralia was able to bring the game back to within four points at 41-37 with under 5 minutes to go. Tristan Porter hit two free-throws to get the lead back up to six points at 43-37 with under 3:30 left to go in the game. The Panthers got the game back down to five points at 44-39, but Tristan Porter made another two free throws to make it 46-39 with under 1:30 left in the game. The Pintos then comfortably outscored Centralia 6-2 in the final minute to secure the win.
Despite the victory, the Pintos struggled with turnovers. They turned the ball over 17 times in the game. Sangster said the team won't panic, as it is still early in the season.
"It is the second game of the season, (we) just have to keep working," Sangster said.
Tristan Porter had a team-high 18 points in the game for California. Trishelle Porter and Paige Lamm both scored eight points each, and Bailey Lage scored seven points.
California's next games are at the Tri-County Tournament at Versailles, one of which was played Monday.