SACRAMENTO, Calif. – The St. Francis basketball team scored 41 second-half points to break open a close game to post a 54-26 victory over Ponderosa in the Delta River League opener for both schools. 

The Troubadours led early in the third quarter 19-17 before closing the game on a 35-9 run aided by a turnover producing press and strong passing efforts across the roster.

“The defensive energy was really it,” said Head Coach Vic Pitton. “We picked up the tempo on offense and got into more of a transition game, which is when we excel. We made a lot better decisions in the half court.”

Sophomore Lauren Craig was the leading scorer for the team, scoring 17 of her 19 points in the second half.

“Coach encouraged us to believe in our shots and take our time,” said Craig. “We started making better decisions and pushing the ball forward.”

Sophomore Kyra Huffman scored eight points, while senior Abby Dow added seven points and seven boards. Danika Bailey contributed six points with eight rebounds, three assists and three steals. Amanda Davenport also scored six points in the win.

“We saw how we played in the first half and we said we are going to go out there and smash it,” said Huffman.

Neither team was smashing it in the first half. St. Francis led early behind five straight points by Dow to start the game but trailed 13-7 after the first quarter.

The Bruins failed to score in the second quarter but the Troubadours hardly took advantage of the drought as the teams entered the locker rooms tied at 13.

“Subbing those 11 from the first half and putting in another 11 was really the difference,” joked Pitton about the different team that played in the second half for St. Francis. “We really looked for the open person and found Lauren, Kyra and even Danika under the basket.”

St. Francis won its 10th game on the season, improving to 10-7 and 1-0 in league action. The Troubadours play at Sheldon Friday night starting with the JV contest at 5:30 p.m. followed by the varsity game at 7 p.m.

“It is always nice to start off 1-0,” said Pitton. “It beats the alternative. We are going to have our hands full with Sheldon. They have a lot of speed and athleticism. We are going to have to be ready to bring our A game.”

The Bruins (10-9, 0-1 DRL) got 10 points each from Madison Clayton and Danielle Craft.

“It is really sets the tone for how we are going to play our next few games,” said Huffman.

ST. FRANCIS 54, PONDEROSA 26

P – Clayton 10, Craft 10, George 4, Boyle 2. SF – Craig 19, Huffman 8, Dow 7, Bailey 6, Davenport 6, Robinson 4, Lau 2, Edrosolan 2.