FOLSOM, Calif. – The St. Francis junior varsity basketball team lost a heartbreaker on a 35-foot buzzer beater 53-52 to El Dorado Saturday morning.

“I really hope this doesn’t go in,” said Nicolos of her thoughts during the final shot. “I really thought it was a million in one chance of it going in.”

Nicolos, who is from Elk Grove, led the team with 17 points. Freshman Logan Kelly added 12 points and sophomore Reina Deol scored 11 aided by three first-quarter three-pointers.

“I think we did ok,” said Nicolos. “There is always room for improvement. Next time we are going to have to dominate play even more so we don’t put ourselves in that situation again.”

St. Francis (2-2) led the entire game building a double-digit lead in the fourth quarter. But El Dorado went on a late run to get close and took the lead in the final minute. The Troubies went back ahead on a layup by Deol 51-50. El Dorado had a chance to take back the lead but missed a shot. After securing a rebound, Kelly converted one of two free throws to extend the lead with just 2.7 seconds on the clock.

“We can always learn from our mistakes and that is what we are doing,” said Nicholos. “We always want to help ourselves and our coaches are helping us all the way. I am really looking forward to league.”

It was the fourth game of the week for the junior varsity team. Head Coach Gary Ender’s team dropped their season opener on Tuesday to Placer 34-29. Nicolos had 17 in her St. Francis debut.

The Troubadours then opened the Folsom-Vista Tipoff with a win over Ponderosa 29-22 on Thursday. Freshman Amara Allen had 13 points in the victory.

“Beginning on Thursday our defensive intensity really increased,” said Ender. “We were not shooting the ball well the first couple of games. We started getting out of that on Friday. A lot of it is getting the players involved and learning to space the floor and share the ball. With that creates more energy.”

St. Francis won again on Friday with a 43-33 win over McClatchy behind 20 points by Nicolos.

“Marlee is a freshman, one of five of them, and she stands out right now because of her athleticism,” said Ender of Nicolos, who averaged 12.3 points over the first four games. “She is a terrific athlete and very blessed to compete at a high level and not back down from any competition. She is not afraid to lead.”

St. Francis returns to tournament play next week at Kennedy High School’s Robby Nakamura Holiday Classic. They open against host Kennedy at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 11.