Casa girls don’t have fire power to hang with Ukiah

Casa Grande didn’t have enough offensive fire power against balanced Ukiah, and the Lady Gauchos fell, 60-46, in a battle for fourth place in the North Bay League on Friday night. The stunned hosts quickly fell behind, 9-0, in the opening minutes and had to battle uphill the rest of the way.

The aggressive Lady Wildcats showed no hesitation by attacking early and often to pull away for the win.

The victory was the fourth straight for Ukiah in the current series, and gave the Wildcats a leg up in clinching a spot in the upcoming NBL post-season tournament.

Sophomore Lani Lincoln rattled in 16 points on a variety of shots, one of three Wildcats to reach double figures, as her club improved to 14-9 for the season. Lincoln averages 10.2 points per game to pace her team. Natae Henson topped Ukiah scorers with 19 points and Kirsten Johnson added 10.

Casa coach Dan Sack had his complete Casa roster available for the first time since the West Coast Jamboree in late December. Guards Cassidy McKinney and Samantha Schaefer were both in uniform for this one.

In the case of Schaefer, it was a bit of a surprise because she had been ruled out for the rest of the season with an injured shoulder.

“Our trainer cleared her to play, and told me that she had enough strength so we put her in late in the first half,” noted Sack. “It was good to have Sam back because Cassidy could now move to the wing.”

McKinney bounced back from an ankle problem to ring up 14 points, and the Lady Gauchos stayed on the heels of Ukiah until the final minutes. A 3-pointer by Lincoln from the corner sealed the deal, however, and Casa could not return fire.

Hannah Sullivan had her long-range-shooting eye with three shots from behind the arc, and contributed 11 points, including one that narrowed the gap in the third period to 37-36. The Gauchos had a couple of chances to grab the lead but turned the ball over.

Mia Cain turned in another strong performance with a team-leading 19 points, and she knocked away four Wildcat shots along the baseline.

Cain and her Gaucho teammates struggled at the free throw line, however, as collectively they missed 13 tosses that could have kept them solidly in the contest. At one point early in the game, Cain missed four consecutive shots from the stripe.

Overall, the game between the two NBL contenders was played at a brisk rate, with Ukiah attacking quickly with each ball possession. Another difference in the contest was on the offensive end of the floor, where the Lady Cats collected 11 rebounds to give them easy second opportunities.

Sophomore Samantha Dedrickson gathered 10 rebounds to lead the Gauchos, but only three players did the bulk of the scoring.

Ukiah made it a clean sweep by swamping Casa, 45-22, in the junior varsity contest.

Earlier in the week, Casa was overwhelmed by Santa Rosa, 46-25. The Lady Gauchos were shut out in the first quarter, falling behind, 13-0, and never recovered.

Cain led Casa with 10 points.

Emily Codding dominated for Santa Rosa with 23.