BOONVILLE, Mo. - The California Pintos girls basketball team suffered a 55-35 loss to the Boonville Pirates on Feb. 13.
The Pintos are now 18-4 on the year - the loss was the team's first defeat since its 57-41 loss to Maryville nearly two months ago on Dec. 21, and snaps a 12-game win streak for the Pintos accumulated in what has been a successful season so far.
Head coach Bobby Sangster said the team does not want to feel the way it did after the game again.
"I loved our attitude and our energy after the game," Sangster said. "I loved the tears that flowed. I love the pain that we are feeling right now because they are going to fight for one another. They are going to continue to get after it, and we don't want to feel like this ever again."
Boonville's defense caused problems for the Pintos during the entire game. Early in the first quarter, the Pintos found themselves down in a hole early as they trailed 10-1 with less than 6:30 left to go in the quarter. A three-pointer by Trishelle Porter made it a 10-4 game with under six minutes to go, but Boonville would add to its lead as the gap got up to double digits at 15-4 with 4:45 left in the quarter. Another three-pointer by Trishelle Porter made it a 15-7 game with less than four minutes to go. California trailed by eight points at the end of the quarter with the score at 20-12.
Boonville began to pull away in the second quarter as they outscored California 15-3 in the quarter to extend their lead to 35-15 at halftime.
In the third quarter, the Pintos started to get back into the game a little bit as they got the lead down to 16 points at 36-20 with just more than seven minutes to go. Later, California got the lead down to 15 points with just less than 4:30 left to go in the quarter after a basket by Tristan Porter made it a 39-24 game. But the team was not able to cut more into the deficit as Boonville led 44-27 by the end of the third quarter.
In the fourth quarter, California held Boonville to only 11 points, but the Pintos only scored eight points and were unable to cut into the Pirates' lead any further in the final quarter.
Turnovers were a problem for California, as the Pintos lost the ball 22 times during the game.
Sangster said Boonville did a number of things that made it a difficult night for the Pintos.
"They sped us up. They anticipated well. They did a lot of things to us," Sangster said. "It was not just one big thing. But we shot ourselves in the foot over and over again tonight."
Sangster said the team has to learn to play better.
"We (have) to learn that we can't let this happen," Sangster said. "We (have) to learn that we (have) to play better and we (have) to learn that if we do play like this, that we are going to feel a lot more hurt. We care too much about each other to let that happen. We are going to continue to battle and get better, and we are going to get ready for districts."
Trishelle Porter led the team with 14 points - Porter made all four of the team's three-pointers in the game. Tristan Porter added nine points, and KaLynn Irey scored six points for California. The team shot 9-15 from the free throw line in the game.
The team's next game is at 5 p.m. Feb. 20 at home against Blair Oaks.