Lady Tigers Sweep Home Stand

Well, just to keep you all informed of the exploits of the Lady Tigers Cagers, here's the latest scoop.

Hodge goes to the hoop against Williams

The Portola Girls Varsity basketball team won their first two league contests at home last week. The Lady Tigers downed the Williams Yellow Jackets 63-21 on Tuesday and then defeated the Esparto Spartans Friday night 46 to 23.


In the league opener against Williams, the girls played smothering defense, holding the Yellow Jackets to just 21 points. The two photos here were taken by Debbie Baer, a local photographer, and basketball mom. The Lady Cats outscored the Jackets 14 to 2 in the final period. Steals were a big factor in the victory with Senior Bailey Holt and Sophomore Emma Brigs grabbing 9 out of a team total of 21. Offensively the Tigers shot a respectable 50 percent from the floor with four players in double figures. Briggs led the way draining 12 points, followed by Senior Lucy Wilbanks who netted 11, while Senior Anna Roach and Junior Marissa Wehrman each tallied 10. Forwards Briggs and Wilbanks led the rebounding for Portola with 9 and 8 respectively, followed by Roach and Senior Ellie Kibble with 4 apiece.

Ellie Kibble shoots while Lu positions for the rebound

On Friday, the Lady Tigers had to play without their leading scorer, as Briggs was sidelined with an ankle injury suffered in practice. The Cat's rhythm was definitely thrown off, as they only shot 38 percent from the floor. It looked like it might be a long night for the Tigers at the end of the first period with Esparto trailing by only 3 points 11 to 8. However, in the second frame, the Tigers outscored the Spartans 16 to 3 to take a 16 point lead to the locker room. After an unproductive third period where the teams scored 4 points apiece, the Girls outpaced Esparto 14 to 7 in the final frame to notch the 46 to 23 league victory. Wehrman knocked down 12 points to lead the Tigers, followed closely by Holt with 11. Roach lit up the board for 9, and Lindsay Compton tallied 6. On the boards, Senior forward Camry Housel and Roach both grabbed 9 rebounds, while Wehrman snatched 6. Wilbanks and Compton contributed 4 apiece.

Lucy lines up for a free throw against Esparto

Coach Matt Compton was pleased with the overall performance of his team. "These last two games the girl's ball movement has allowed everyone to contribute on the offensive end of the court" Compton said. "We have really been working on our man-to-man coverages in practice lately" he continued. "I think it's paying off as the girls are really showing better focus, and staying more involved." The lady Tigers go on the road this week to take on East Nicklaus and Biggs. No scores were available at press time.

Lucy has now accumulated 101 points for the season as the number 4 scorer. She is only 12 points behind number three and leads number 5 by 8 points. She is really shining in the rebound category, leading all players with 107. She is very good at blocking out opposing players and actually helps her teammates get many rebounds as a result. Dad is proud! Sure will miss this next year!

That's All!