High school girls basketball
The Lady Jaguars played host to some of the top high school basketball programs in the region on Dec. 6-8 at the annual Windsor Invitational Tournament, a great barometer for eight participating teams.
The Jags opened the tourney with a 44-41 win over Napa, and finished up with subsequent losses to Northern California powers Vanden (60-31) and Amador Valley (56-37).
“I think the tournament was a great success, we only went 1-2 but the competition was very strong,” Jags’ coach Joe Passalacqua reported. “What I take from the tournament is that we need to be able to play four quarters of basketball. We seem to have one bad quarter that puts us in a hole. Needless to say, that can be expected with such a young team.”
Ladies take fourth
Windsor squared off against a solid Napa squad in game one of the tournament on Dec. 6, trailing nearly the entire game before a late surge lifted the Jaguars to an unlikely 44-41 win.
“It was a great finish against Napa, a Division 1 opponent to steal a win,” Passalacqua noted. “We didn’t take the lead until about 15 seconds left in the game.”
Pacing the offensive attack were freshman Meredith Gilbertson (15 points, 9 rebounds) and senior Tori Russotti (12 points, three 3-pointers). The win advanced the Jags into Friday’s semifinal against powerful Vanden, a Division 2 state champion two years ago.
Windsor held its own early, taking a 10-8 first-quarter lead and trailed by just 16-14 with two minutes to go in the half. Vanden finished the half on an 8-0 run to lead 24-14 at the break. The Vikings, employing an effective full-court press, busted the game wide open late in the third to finish the period on a 12-0 run en route to an eventual 60-31 victory.
Freshmen Grace Boyle and Gilbertson led the way with eight points apiece, while Maddie West chipped in six points and six rebounds.
The Lady Jags faced a strong Amador Valley team in Saturday’s battle for third place, again playing their opponent tough to lead most of the first quarter. The Dons took charge with a 17-2 run to grab a decisive 35-20 lead at the half.
The Jaguars matched them bucket for bucket after intermission but Amador Valley would cruise to a 56-37 win.
Top point-producers for Windsor were Boyle (15 points, 3 three-pointers) and Russotti (9).
Next up for the Lady Jaguars is a visit to Division 1 power Berkeley on Dec. 12 (after press time), followed by a trip to Oakland High on Dec. 22 (3 p.m.). Windsor will then compete in the St. Ignatius Shootout (Dec. 27-28).
