GIRLS’ BASKETBALL SPORTS SHORTS–
Winter 2005/06

The girls’ basketball overall record is 7-16 and 4-10 in the WSL as of Feb. 17.

SEASON END

FC 38, MENDOTA 30 on Feb. 17–
The seniors were honored before tipoff and the high fives continued throughout much of the game as FC defeated Mendota, 38-30, on Feb. 17. Under new head coach Josh Tosland, the girls held their heads high and defeated a pesty Aztec team to close out the season.

Senior Rose Walker led the Eagles with 14 points and 16 rebounds and set the tone for the team as she scored in each quarter.

“She has been a leader on this team all year,” coach Tosland said. “Rose has shown how to play on both sides of the ball and today she was our best player.”

Walker lead the team in rebounds and finished the year with over 150 boards. The Eagles also outrebounded Mendota, 46-22, and, according to Tosland, was the difference in the game.

Freshman Larissa Hensley kept pace with Walker throughout the game and scored 11 points and added 6 points and appears poised to led the team into next season.

FC led, 9-7, after the first quarter and 17-14 at the half in a tight defensive game. The third quarter however was all FC as the Eagles’ offense came alive and outscored the Aztecs, 15-8, and cruised to a 32-22 lead. While the girls were outscored by two in the fourth, they seemed to be girls just having fun, savoring the remaing eight minutes.

Kaley Hearnsberger also had one of her best games of the year as the senior scored five points and pulled down five rebounds.

But senior Krizia Tovar may have punctuated the season by trying a ‘granny’ free throw in the fourth quarter. While she missed the shot, her ‘lucky-go’ attitude seemed to further lift the team who have had some emotional moments in the last couple of days of practice.

The close knit bunch of teenagers had a good laugh as they all ran back to defend with a couple of minutes left on the court as the bench stood and clapped.

FIREBAUGH 54, FC 43 on Feb. 14–
After holding the host Eagles to a 12-12 tie at the end of the first quarter, Firebaugh blew open the game by halftime (22-12) and cruised to a 54-43 win over FC on Valentine’s Day.

The Eagle starters had trouble defending the hot three-point shooting of Firebaugh but battled illness which fatigued the team. However, the girls did not give up and won the fourth quarter, outscoring their hosts 10-6.

Freshman Larissa Hensley led the Eagles with 12 points, 5 rebounds and 8 assists but seniors Andrea Munoz (7 points, 4 steals), Tara Albrechtson (8 points, 5 rebounds and 3 steals) and Rose Walker (6 points) still played with intensity to the end.

Junior Anne Hawkins summarized the FC season when she smiled reflected after the game.

“We realized our mistakes and, in the second half, we played with more heart and fought till the end. We’ve never given up all year.”

While the team may be glad the year is nearly over, they are emotional that the good times they have had together are coming to an end. Coach Josh Tosland added a punctuation mark to the season after the game.

“I can say this about this team,” coach Tosland said. “I have had the pleasure to coach some of the best girls in this school and they have been a joy to me. These seniors have been kind of a foothold for the basketball program the last few years. They will be sadly missed by their teammates and the by many in the student body.”

CARUTHERS 59, FC 43 on Feb. 10–
The home team ran with the WSL leaders and matched the intensity for the first quarter but then lost their rythum in the second in a 59-43 loss to Caruthers on Feb. 10.

The Blue Raiders clung to a 13-10 first quarter lead and then blew the game open in the second with precision layups and field goals. Caruthers outscored the Eagles 19-7 and took a 32-17 lead into the half. The visitors were led by Kimi Rush who had a game-high of 17 points and Holleey Busch’s 16 points.

However, in the third the Eagles regrouped and the team’s traded baskets with Caruthers outscoring the home team 13-12. And while the team’s each added 14 in the final frame, the damage had already been done. FC was whistled for a team-high 33 fouls.

Bonnie Hansen led the Eagles with 11 points while Andrea Munoz added 9 points in the loss.

FOWLER 53, FC 43 on Feb. 7–
Fowler dominated the first quarter and survived a late FC comeback to defeat the Eagles, 53-43, on Feb. 7.

Andrea Munoz and Larissa Hensley each had 12 points to lead FC but could not quite match Fowler’s top players as Liz Lara scored a game-high 15 points and Essence Scott added 13 points.

“We were not very effective on both sides of the boards in the first half,” Kaley Hearnsberger, ’06, said. “I guess we weren’t driving hard enough. But in the fourth quarter we closed the gap to five points but were unable to overcome the 10 point deficit.”

The second half was a complete turnaround for the Eagles who pressured the Redcats to numerous turnovers resulting in uncontensted layups. Rose Walker, ’06, led the team again in rebounds with eight and now has over 50 more rebounds than any of her teammates.

“We started to create more of an uptempo game the second half and it brought us to within five points late in the 4th quarter,” coach Josh Tosland said. “We fought very hard to get back into it and Fowler looked exhausted as we were looking rejuvinated.”

One footnote on the game however may have made the difference: FC was called for 13 fouls while Fowler was only whistled for four fouls.

“It is very hard to win a game where the other team only gets called for four fouls,” coach Tosland said. “Fowler’s Essence Scott was a focus for us going into the game and we kept her point total to within reason. However, her teammates stepped in and helped her out. Fowler played well and they will only get better next year.”

RIVERDALE 48, FC 22 on Feb. 3–
The Cowgirls were at their top of their game and defeated FC, 48-22, on Feb. 3. Yet turnovers and poor shooting by the visiting Eagles doomed the game for FC from the beginning.

“We came out flat and self-destructed,” coach Josh Tosland said. “We rarely sank any shots and kept turning over the ball today. It just wasn’t our night. But to the girls credit, we walked off the court, shrugged our shoulders and put the game behind us. We will refocus and get ready for Fowler.”

Riverdale led 10-2 in the first quarter and 21-8 and half and cruised to victory. They held the Eagles to 7 points or less each quarter.

Riverdale forward Aimee Brooks scored a game-high 18 points while Andrea Ormonde added 13 in a potent Cowboy attack.

Forward Bonnie Hansen led the Eagles with 6 points while guard Tara Albrechtson added 5 points in the loss.

FC 59, TRANQUILLITY 25 on JAN. 31–
After rebounding Tranquillity 50-13, FC pulled away in the second half and defeated the Tigers, 59-25, on Jan. 31. The Eagle scoring was spread out amongst 10 players and Rose Walker scored a game-high 13 points.

FC jumped out to a 17-9 lead in the first quarter, outscoring the Tigers in each frame. By halftime the Eagles led 31-18 and Tranquillity never recovered and lost it ninth straight WSL game.

Tranquillity was held to only two points in the third quarter and five points in the fourth as the Eagles defensive pressure forced Tiger turnovers into points. Bonnie Hansen, 11 points, and Jen Vandenhoek, 7 points, and Annie Hawkins, 6 points, added support to a well-rounded attack.

LIBERTY-MADERA RANCHOS 50, FC 38 on JAN. 26–
Liberty broke open a close game in the fourth quarter after guard sophomore Kim Swift broke her ankle and defeated the Eagles, 50-38, on Jan. 26 in Madera. The teams were tied at 19 at half and the Hawks only led, 32-28, at the end of the third when Swift went down early in the fourth.

“Kim was defending at midcourt when she went down,” Rose Walker said. “She was trying to trap and got entangled and went down. We didn’t know she was hurt until the referee stopped play.”

Besides the injury, FC also had to recover from foul trouble as Tara Albrechtson had four fouls in the first half and while Walker played with four fouls in the fourth. Liberty had 18 free throw attempts to FC’s 6 in the game. Liberty outscored FC, 18-10, in the fourth to win the game going away.

Walker finished the game with 11 points, 9 rebounds and 4 steals to lead the Eagles while leading scorer Larissa Hensley was held to only 4 points and 10 rebounds. Andrea Munoz added 7 points to an Eagle squad affected by injury and frustration over the foul trouble.

Ashley Garza and Holly Gocka each scored 17 points as the Hawks improved to 6-2 in the WSL and have won eight of their last 10 games.

MENDOTA 36, FC 31 on JAN. 24–
Mendota withstood a furious fourth quarter comeback to defeat FC, 36-31, on Jan. 24. The Aztecs led, 33-20, after the third quarter and were dominated in the fourth by the Eagles’ pressure defense but managed to hang on for their third WSL win.

Freshman Larissa Hensley continues to lead the Eagles as she scored 9 points, had 6 rebounds, 5 steals and 4 assists. But despite youngster’s efforts, FC could not overcome Mendota’s 13 point third quarter lead.

FC 49, FIREBAUGH 32 on JAN. 20–
After a tight first half which had Firebaugh leading, 21-17, the Eagles blew open the game in the third to rout the visiting Eagles, 49-32, in front of a capacity FC crowd on Jan. 20.

Firebaugh led 11-7 in the first quarter and the game remained tight through half time as the teams each scored 10 in the second. However, the burgening crowd seemed to change as the noise and energy level built through the halftime and early third quarter.

“We couldn’t get anything going right in the first half and we were getting a little frustrated,” coach Josh Tosland said. “At halftime we talked about what we had to do to change things. The girls stepped up their intensity on the defensive end and they went out there and changed the complexion of the game.”

Tosland said that senior captain Tara Albrechtson led the charge as she pressed the visitors throughout the second half and the team responded. She finished with 6 points.

FC went on a 10-0 run as the third continued and outscored Firebaugh 18-5. Eight different Eagles scored and Larissa Hensley had a game-high 14 points.

“We picked up our intensity in the second half and got refocused mentally,” Hensley said. “We committed ourselves to the full court press and made come important turnovers. We hadn’t won in a while and we decided we weren’t going to lose on our home court tonight.”

The rout continued in the fourth as FC outscored the visitors, 14-6, and won the game going away.

“With a couple of three’s in the 3rd quarter, our confidence started to build,” Tosland added. “The biggest play of the game was when Kelsey Marston set up for an inbound play that was run twice before in the game with success. Firebaugh saw the setup and called a timeout to nullify Marston’s play.However, we ran the same setup and scored. Firebaugh seemed to break at that point.”

Marston finished with 9 points while Andrea Munoz added 8 in supporting roles.

CARUTHERS 55, FC 33 on JAN. 17–
Despite coming to within 6 points with 5 minutes remaining in the game, FC lost to Caruthers, 55-33, on Jan. 17. The Eagles kept the game close until midway through the fourth quarter but fell to the No. 1 team in the W.S.L.

Rosie Walker led FC with 8 points while Kim Swift and Kelsey Marston each scored 7 points in the loss.

FOWLER 52, FC 44 on JAN. 13–
For the second game in a row, FC battled a tough WSL opponent through the fourth quarter. And for the second straight game, the Eagles fell just short. Despite Larissa Hensley’s game-high 25 points, Fowler beat FC, 52-44, on Jan. 13.

The Redcats parlayed the momentum the built in the last couple of second quarter minutes and outscored the Eagles, 17-11, in the third to seemingly put the game out of reach. However, FC kept feeding the ball to Hensley who, along with Katie White’s 7 points, kept the Eagles and the outcome in doubt througout the second half.

But despite outscoring Fowler, 15-10, in the fourth, FC could not make up the Redcats 42-29 third quarter lead.

RIVERDALE 37, FC 28 on JAN. 10–
Riverdale defeated the FC girls’ basketball team, 37-28, in a game marked with wide swings of momentum on Jan. 10. However, the game was not decided until the fourth quarter.

FC jumped out to a quick lead and led, 14-7, at the end of the first quarter but could not hold the advantage. Riverdale stormed back and outscored FC, 10-3, to tie the game at 17 at half time. Nine different players scored for the Eagles as they moved the ball well against the Cowgirls but the fourth belonged to Riverdale.

FC was only able to score three points and were unable to stop Riverdale’s offense. Andrea Munoz and Katie White led the Eagles with 5 points while Rosie Walker and Larissa Hensley each added 4 points.

FC 63, TRANQUILLITY 33 on JAN. 5–
With their coach back on the bench and with a week’s worth of practice, the girls’ team parlayed a 11-2 first quarter lead to beat Tranquillity, 63-33, on Jan. 5.

While Tranquillity’s offense finally got started in the second, the Eagles amped up and outscored the Tigers, 20-12, and took a 31-14 lead at half time. Larissa Hensley lead the Eagles’ offense in the first half with 11 points.

With their passes clicking, FC moved the ball around in the second half as Katie White scored 7 of her 10 points including a 3-pointer early in the third. The Eagles outscored the Tigers 23-6 to put the game out of reach. Andrea Munoz led FC with 12 points. While she did not score in the third, she quarterbacked the team to their first WSL win of the season. Eleven different players scored for the Eagles.

LIBERTY-MADERA 54, FC 46 on JAN. 3–
FC came out flat and was not able to overcome a 25-16 half time deficit despite a strong second half and lost to Liberty-Madera Ranchos, 54-46, on Jan. 3 to open the W.S.L. season.

Liberty made key shots while FC missed opportunities in the first half as FC was outscored 15-8 in the second quarter. However, Larissa Hensley (15 points) and Jennifer Vandenhoek (12 points) began to click and the Eagle offense had a strong second half.

However the girls’ effort fell short as the Hawks scored basket for basket and still outscored the Eagles, 16-15, in the third. FC utilitzed Bonnie Hansen down low and she scored 10 points and the Eagles outscored Liberty, 15-13, in the fourth but were unable to make up the rest of the deficit.

The girls contine W.S.L. play and travel to Tranquillity on Jan. 5.

CENTRAL VALLEY CHRISTIAN CHRISTMAS CLASSIC, DEC. 14-16–
PARLIER 49, FC 41 on DEC. 16–
FC recovered from yesterday’s loss with a strong showing against Parlier but still lost their third straight, 49-41, at the CVC Christmas Classic on Dec. 16.

The Eagles fell behind 16-11 by the end of the first quarter and could not make up any ground the rest of the half as Parlier led, 25-17, at half. Andrea Munoz played her strongest game of the season and led FC with 16 points while Larissa Hensley added 10.

The team’s traded baskets in the second half but the Eagles would not get any closer the rest of the way. FC will play Orosi in its final game of the tournament on Dec. 17.

RIVERDALE 40, FC 13 on DEC. 15–
Riverdale’s defense held FC to only one first half point as the Cowgirls beat the Eagles, 40-13, on Dec. 15. Riverdale led 24-1 at half and cruised to a victory in the second game for both teams at the CVC Christmas Classic in Visalia.

While FC was able to keep pace with Riverdale in the second half, they were unable to make up the low scoring in the first. Tara Albrechtson led the Eagles with 6 points.

IMMANUEL 41, FC 20 on DEC. 14–
FC traveled to Immanuel but were beated by the host Eagles, 41-20, on Dec. 14. Immanuel jumped out to a 13-4 first quarter lead and never looked back.

Immanuel led 23-9 at half time and 32- 14 at the end of the third quarter. Freshman Larissa Hensley led FC with 8 points.

The girls will continue to play in the Central Valley Christian Invitational, Dec. 15-16. Their next game is against Riverdale on Dec. 15.

FC 30, CVC 22 on DEC. 13–
After an 0-3 start, the Eagles won their second straight and defeated Central Valley Christian, 30-22, on Dec. 13.

FC jumped out to a 12-6 lead at the end of the first quarter and led throughout. Kelsey Marston paced the Eagles with 8 points and Tara Albrechtson added 6. But it was FC’s defense which made the difference.

“The girls were committed to playing defense and it showed from the tip,” coach Josh Tosland said. “We played patiently on offense and worked extremely hard on defense. In the midst of campus finals and a five-day trip to Visalia, the team put forth a great effort last night. The coaching staff is very proud of their effort.”

While CVC closed the gap to four at half but FC still led 17-13. However, the Eagles outscored the host Cavaliers 11-9 in the second half.

FC 48, LATON 38 on DEC. 6–
Senior Rosie Walker led the Eagles with 12 points and 10 rebounds, 2 steals. Bonnie Hansen scored 6 points and added 4 rebounds and had 2 steals. Andrea Munoz defensively made 10 steals and 3 assists while scoring 5 with 4 rebounds.

“I was proud of how hard the girls worked,” coach Josh Tosland said. “We didn’t put very many points on the board, but the girls are giving an incredible amount of effort which will pay dividends throughout the entire season. These girls really know how to work and come to practice every day or morning with a positive attitude and a drive to be the best. How lucky am I?”

The game was the Eagles only home game before the West Sierra League starts. The girls next play at Central Valley Christian in Visalia on Dec. 13. The Cavaliers have a 6’6″ girl on their team. Later the girls play at CVC Invitational Tournament from Dec. 15-17.

VALLEY CHRISTIAN ATHLETIC INVITATIONAL DEC 1-3–

VILLANOVA PREP–
FC was outscored each quarter by a talented Villanova Prep team and fell, 29-57, in Santa Maria in their final game of the Valley Christian Athletic Invitational on Dec. 3. At half Villanova led 30-17 and dominated the third quarter to defeat the Eagles.

Andrea Munoz led FC with 8 points, Larissa Hensley added 7 points while Kelsey Marston scored 6 points and had 7 rebounds. In order to add some perspective, most of the schools at the tournament have over 1500 students while FC still has under 290 students.

The girls will host Laton on Dec. 6. Game time is 5 P.M.

HIGHLAND–
In a hotly contested game, FC battled Highland until the fourth quarter buzzer but lost, 40-43, on Dec. 2 in the VCA Invitational. The girls rebounded after their opening game yesterday and were able to match the Scots throughout the game.

The Eagles were led by freshman Larissa Hensley with 10 points and senior Tara Albrechtson who netted 7 points and grabbed 8 rebounds. Senior Rose Walker added 6 points while Bonnie Hansen and Andrea Munoz each had 5 points.

NIPOMO–
The girls began first round play at the Valley Christian Athletic Invitational Tournament in Santa Maria on Dec. 1. Nipomo defeated the Eagles, 57-32. Rosie Walker led FC with 10 points and 10 rebounds.