Lady Gauchos rally in 4th for win

After three periods of nightmarish shooting, the Casa Grande Lady Gauchos turned on all the burners to run past visiting Maria Carrillo, 37-29, on Jan. 29.

“We shot only 15 percent in the first half,” said frustrated coach Dan Sack. “Driving to the basket might be the answer.”

The Gauchos trailed, 27-17, at the end of three quarters, but collectively used an assortment of dribble drives toward the hoop to catch and pass the dazed Pumas. The benching of taller Puma players Hallie Aanenson and Natalie von Winden with four fouls each helped to open the lanes, and the Gauchos took full advantage.

Many of the earlier shots by Casa were bricks, missing their mark by a wide margin. Driving shots by Molly Lundquist and Joy Jovick in the late going began to turn things around, and the Gauchos finally went ahead, 29-27, with two minutes remaining.

Kayla Ryan, who scored all of her five points in the final stanza, followed a Jovick hoop with a driving right hand lay-in to give Casa a more comfortable five-point advantage with less than a minute remaining.

Carrillo came into the game with a seven-game losing streak in the North Bay League, and the Lady Pumas had a look of desperation in searching for answering baskets in the final minutes. Overall, Casa outscored the visitors 20-2 in the last period.

Lundquist, who has put together some improved offensive outings of late, tallied 11 points to lead the Gauchos, despite doing most of her scoring off the bench. The hard-working junior forward shuttled in and out in almost every late-game change of possession as Destiny Williams entered to be the face of full-court pressure defense.

Sack was pleased with the late-game full-court pressure by the Gauchos, and noted that it “finally paid off.”

Until then, Sack tried almost every possible combination of Casa players in an effort to get back into the game.

Casa had opportunities to do some damage at the free throw line, but converted on only 10 of 19 attempts.

Freshman Mia Cain started for the Gauchos and was in the middle of all the activity underneath, finishing with five points.

Jovick continued to be the center of energy for Casa, despite scoring only a single free throw in the first half. She wound up with three game-turning hoops in the final stanza and pulled down an impressive 18 rebounds.

Senior point guard Myranda Gradney topped the Lady Pumas with eight points and dished out five assists. Carrillo is 6-15 for the season.

Carrillo went to a zone defense in the final two minutes in an effort to cut down the slashing Gaucho attack, but it was too late to stop the onslaught.

Casa Grande captured the junior varsity game, 61-31, as the fouling Pumas finished with only four eligible players on the floor.

Earlier in the week, Casa Grande got off to a bad start and never recovered, losing at Santa Rosa, 61-40.

Casa scored just three points in the opening quarter, and trailed, 20-3, at the end of the period.

Jovick scored 10 points and pulled down 11 rebounds for the Gauchos. Cassidy McKinney added nine points.

Kylie Olson led Santa Rosa with 22 points. Emily Codding added 13.