Santa Rosa girls drive past Casa Grande

Santa Rosa’s basket-seeking Panthers found enough of what they were searching for to frustrate Casa Grande, 47-32, in a North Bay League girls match played Thursday night in Casa’s Coach Ed Iacopi Gymnasium.

Led by drive-happy Princess Tufele and satin-smooth Emily Codding, the Panthers consistently penetrated Casa’s inner defenses for sometimes wild drives to the hoop.

However, enough of the surges led to two-point successes or foul calls to send Casa to its second NBL defeat.

Casa Grande could not find the range on its preferred 3-point distance shots, barely missing some and badly missing others, but hitting on only three.

Casa Grande also was frustrated in its attempts to force the ball inside, especially with 5-10 front court leader Mia Cain benched for much of the first half in foul trouble and playing almost the entire final period with four misdemeanors, just one away from expulsion.

Casa’s efforts were further hampered by the presence of ball handler and outside shooter Samantha Schaefer on the bench with an injured shoulder that will likely sideline her for the remainder of her junior season.

Cain finished with a team-high 16 points, with Cassidy McKinney adding eight. Codding, a 6-1 senior who handles the ball like a point guard, led Santa Rosa with 16 points, with Tufele adding 11 and 6-2 freshman Kamaren Codding 10.

Hannah Sullivan banked in a 3-pointer for one of the two Casa long-range hits in the first quarter as the teams reached the first buzzer with Santa Rosa in front, 10-9.

The younger Codding helped the Panthers dominate in the paint in round two, beating the halftime buzzer with the follow of a missed Panther shot to give her side an 18-13 halftime lead.

The biggest hurt for the Gauchos in the quarter came when junior guard Katherine Silveira bounced her head on the floor battling for a loose ball, further depleting the Casa bench.

Santa Rosa, driving to the hoop, controlling the backboards and occasionally popping in a trey, pretty much controlled the second half. Casa’s shooting woes continued as the Panthers maintained a 10- to 15-point lead to the buzzer.

Of the Gauchos’ 19 points in the second half, 10 were counted by Cain.

MLK Day loss

On Monday, Casa Grande lost a non-league game to Redwood from the Marin County Athletic League, 47-34.

The game was part of the annual Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Classic series.

Redwood’s Giants jumped out to a 29-17 halftime lead and coasted through the second half.

Casa Grande, as usual, was led by Cain inside with 15 points and McKinney outside with 14. Jenny Walker scored 20 for Redwood.

Casa Grande is now 10-6 overall and 2-3 in North Bay League play.