T-Girls climb into third with upset victory

After a number of disappointments during the season, the Petaluma T-Girls basketball team rallied to put together a complete game, and went on to pin a defeat on a team with an impressive winning record. It took a couple of battle-tested senior competitors to lead the way, and the job was accomplished with solid player-to-player defense.|

After a number of disappointments during the season, the Petaluma T-Girls basketball team rallied to put together a complete game, and went on to pin a defeat on a team with an impressive winning record. It took a couple of battle-tested senior competitors to lead the way, and the job was accomplished with solid player-to-player defense.

Healdsburg came into town on Saturday afternoon with a glossy 16-4 record, and a senior scorer who had eclipsed the 1,000-point mark earlier in the season. The Lady Greyhounds were sent packing after absorbing an upset 38-31 defeat, and slid into a tie for third place with the suddenly competitive Petaluma five.

T-Girl point guard Emily Corda did a little bit of everything for Petaluma, starting with an 11-point first half as the T-Girls raced to a 25-13 halftime advantage. Her ball handling and distributing were instrumental in the early success of her club. Included in her assists were passes to the wing where sophomores Brittany Tomrose and Nichole Costa buried 3-point shots as Petaluma pulled away to a 12-2 advantage.

It might have appeared to be Petaluma’s day when a long range 3-point shot by Kailee Silacci bounced off the backboard from a difficult angle and went in.

The second ingredient in the Petaluma recipe on the afternoon was the defensive work of veteran Olivia Baldwin who diligently denied entry passes to high-scoring Hound center Hailey Roux. Baldwin had to hustle to get to her spot on the floor ahead of Roux who passed the 1,000 mark in scorning earlier in the year.

Time and again, Baldwin batted away entry passes, and added a resounding block before the end of the first half.

After intermission, the Hounds suddenly came out growling, and briefly went ahead on a play in the paint by Roux early in the fourth period.

“We couldn’t get the ball inside like we did in the first half,” explained Petaluma coach Janelle Robello. “The girls settled for shots from the outside and nothing went in. I thought we were going to give it all away.”

Much of it had to do with the Healdsburg defense that toughened up along the baseline, and denied Petaluma an ally to the basket.

While Roux was starting to awaken offensively by getting better position for shots on the low block, it was Baldwin who finally ended a six-minute drought by connecting of the second of two free throw attempts.

By then, Petaluma had found its lead chopped to 28-25, and it got worse with a Roux conversion.

Sophomore Madeline Abramson eventually connected on a clutch basket from the corner to keep the T-Girl juices flowing. At that point, Petaluma had missed 12 consecutive shots.

Key baskets by Baldwin and Costa helped Petaluma get a bit of second wind, and the T-Girls held on grimly to post the victory, and improve to 6-4 in the Sonoma County League.

“It was absolutely our best game of the season,” said a pleased Robello who told her club how proud she was of their collective effort after the game. “We came back after giving up the lead, and that was the difference,”

Corda, the vertically challenged leader on the floor for Petaluma, was held scoreless in the final two periods, but she made her presence known by hauling in an astonishing 15 rebounds to lead both teams.

“I don’t really watch the rotation of the ball out of the shooters hands,” she said, “I just fly in there after shots. and grab it where the action is.”

Baldwin, the leading scorer for Petaluma all season, was kept in check until the critical final minutes of the game when she connected on a couple of key shots to finish with 10 points and 12 rebounds.

Roux led Healdsburg with 12 points. Keely Bulloch added 10 points. Healdsburg outscored the suddenly cold-shooting T-Girls in the second half, 18-13. Should the two teams tie for third place. it will be up to the numbers drawn earlier in the season for placement in the SCL post season tournament for the top four teams.

According to Petaluma athletic director Kathryn Teeter, the tournament games will be played on Tuesday and Thursday nights at the home of the higher seed.

Cold night

A frost-bitten T-Girls team couldn’t beg, borrow or even steal a basket Tuesday night as they lost to Sonoma Valley, 46-18.

On a night when the Petalumans honored their three seniors - Emily Corda, Kailee Silacci and Olivia Baldwin - they were smothered by Sonoma’s zone defense.

Petaluma scored only one point in the first quarter, a free throw by Corda, and had only one basket in the entire first half, a 3-pointer by Emily O’Keefe, and that came with just 30 seconds remaining before intermission.

One of the bright spots for the T-Girls was the strong board work on both ends of the court by sophomore Nichole Costa, who fought hard against the bigger Dragons to limit the visitors’ offensive opportunities.

The win was the ninth straight for the Dragons, who received 20 points from dominating inside player Jenny Eggers. Corda led Petaluma with seven. Defense rules

Earlier in the week, Petaluma used a stifling second-half defense to defeat Piner, 47-33.

The T-Girls led just 24-20 at the half before holding Piner to 13 points in the second half.

Baldwin led the T-Girls with 11 points, while Costa contributed 10, Corda nine and Kailee Silacci eight.

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