PREP BASKETBALL 2016: Casa girls a bit ragged, but rally to beat Northgate

Balanced scoring overcame a ragged home-opening performance by Casa Grande as the Lady Gauchos dispatched Northgate of Walnut Creek, 51-33, Monday night. It was the seventh consecutive victory for Casa over the Broncos in the current series.

Four Gauchos reached double figures in scoring as they pulled away in the second half by outscoring Northgate, 30-18, in a game that featured 23 turnovers by both teams combined.

The Broncos started the game by going the wrong way with the opening tap and a trapping defense only made things worse as the game progressed. Six Northgate turnovers in the first quarter prevented separation in the opening minutes as Casa pulled away to a narrow 21-15 lead at halftime.

Casa Grande snapped the ball around the perimeter of the Northgate defense, and finally got some good looks in the second period when Mia Cain and junior guard Samantha Schaefer dropped in a couple of shots from behind the arc that keyed the Gaucho resurgence.

Cain, Schaefer, Cassidy McKinney and Hannah Sullivan all finished in double figures as the Gauchos used a long-range game to overcome 11 turnovers of their own. Eight shots from distance accounted for more than half the Casa scoring from the floor.

Cain had her second solid outing for Casa Grande with a double-double, including a game-high 11 points and 11 rebounds. She finished 5-for-8 from the floor.

McKinney struggled from the floor in the first half, not finding the range on nine shooting attempts. The hustling senior guard rallied in the late going by railing three shots from behind the arc to tie Cain for game honors with 11 points.

Casa coach Dan Sack got an outstanding performance from Schaefer off the bench as she made a difference almost immediately with five points in the second quarter. Schaefer and steady wing player Sullivan both contributed 10 points each for the Gauchos.

Unheralded sophomore Samantha Dedrickson got the Gaucho offense off and rolling with a 3-point play the hard way in the first period, and her good work continued throughout the contest. Dedrickson led all players on the boards for the game with 13 rebounds.

Northgate came into the game after a rough start against Analy in a scrimmage game at Sebastopol last week. The Broncos got seven points from outside sophomore guard Kaelyn Gemenes, who also recorded four loose-ball steals at the top of the Northgate defense.

Macy Woodworth, leading scorer as a freshman for the Broncos last season in a 7-4 league campaign, is on the Bronco roster, but she did not play in her team’s season opener.

Sack did acknowledge the turnover problems for both squads, but he was more pumped about the alumni game played between his team and a big turnout of former players on the previous weekend.

“It was a very competitive game, and we had a big turnout of 23 alumni which made the game special,” Sack said following Northgate contest.

Casa Grande held a commanding 10-point lead in the final quarter of the junior varsity game only to see Northgate cut the margin to 36-32 with several follow-up shots in an exciting finish.