Montgomery races past short-handed Casa girls

Montgomery broke to a big lead early in the game, and eased past the shorthanded Casa Grande Lady Gauchos, 68-44, in North Bay League girls play on Monday in Santa Rosa. The second-place Lady Vikings improved to 18-4 overall with the victory.

Casa Grande went into the contest without the services of shooting guard Cassidy McKinney, who injured her ankle in a win over Maria Carrillo last week.

“If it was up to me, I would have played tonight,” she said, “We are leaving it to a decision by our team trainer, and she recommended that I give it a little more time. I’ll probably be ready to play a little on Wednesday.”

The Lady Gauchos travel to play Santa Rosa at mid-week.

With the absence of McKinney and Samantha Schaefer, the wounded Gauchos had no answers for the quick Montgomery start, leading to a comfortable 21-5 lead after the first quarter. Schaefer has not played since hurting her shoulder at the West Coast Jamboree.

Seniors Julia Watson and Marli Dykstra triggered the Viking offensive by combining for 13 points in the opening period, and the hosts never looked back.

Casa Grande relied on center Mia Cain for virtually all its scoring, and she delivered again with 14 of the first 17 Gaucho points in the first half. Cain, who is rapidly becoming one of the top scorers in the NBL, finished the night with a season high 34 points. Most of her work was near the basket, but she added three shots from outside the arc to add some versatility to her game. She has averaged 26 points in her last three games.

Montgomery coasted to the victory, and got all its players into the action. Shayla Newman led the way with 14 points in limited minutes, followed by Watson who added 12. Trinity Hawkins tossed in 10 points off the Viking bench.

The contest was marred in the second half when Hannah Sullivan of the Gauchos was sucker punched on a contested jump ball.

“It was a punch,” said a smiling Sullivan, who collected herself with the aid of an ice bag over her cheek and nose area. “They threw that girl out of the game before I could react.”

The game was quickly restored to order by the two officials, who immediately dispatched the belligerent Viking, and called the two teams and coaches together at the middle of the floor. The hushed crowd could hear almost every stern word spoken by the officials, and the pro-Viking supporters broke into a smattering of applause at the quick and decisive action of the referees.

“We decided to make the punch a flagrant technical,” noted the lead official after the game. “There was really no cause for that kind of emotion. Their team was up by 30 points. We try to emphasize sportsmanship in our pre-game talk with the captains. It was disappointing.”

The banished Montgomery player must sit out the next Viking contest by CIF rule, and she could face even further discipline by school officials.

Sullivan did not return to the game, but contributed eight points for the Lady Gauchos, who fell to 13-9 for the season.

Good week

Overall, last week was a good one for the Casa girls, despite ending by running into the freight train of talent that is Cardinal Newman.

Casa Grande opened the week by holding off Windsor, 40-32, in a game played at Windsor.

Casa built a 29-11 halftime lead, but scored only two points in the third period as Windsor climbed back into the game. Casa’s defense prevaied at the finish.

McKinney led the Lady Gauchos with 14 points, while Cain added nine.

Gabby Gidding led Windsor with 20 points and 11 rebounds.

Casa Grande followed with a 45-27 romp over Maria Carrillo in a game played at home.

Cain had a huge game, scoring 27 points, grabbing 11 rebounds and blocking three shots.