Monday night of the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, the high school gym burst with the unexpected energy of basketball players and fans for a rescheduled game with Piner High School. A scheduling conflict forced the girls teams to play on Monday night instead of Tuesday, as first announced.
It didn’t seem to matter to the fans or the Lady Greyhounds, but perhaps it threw off the timing of the Lady Prospectors. Running their winning streak to nine games, Healdsburg took Piner to the cleaners with a decisive 69-20 victory, ran their overall record to 18-2 and their North Bay – Redwood record to an undefeated 6-0, halfway through the season.
Hannah Sellards led the scoring, not only making the first basket just seconds into the game but getting 15 points over the course of the night. She was followed by Allie Espinoza and Hailey Webb who got 12 each, though all nine members of the Healdsburg roster had playing time and scored points.
Before the holiday weekend, on Jan. 11, the Healdsburg girls basketball team faced a challenging St. Vincent team in an away game, the fifth North Coast Redwood league game of the year. Although coach Jim Lago diplomatically said, “St. Vincent came at us with a scrappy, high-energy defense,” the Mustangs proved no high hurdle for the rolling Greyhounds, who cruised to a 36-point victory, 53-17.
The score was so one-sided at the half, 32-7, that the Healdsburg team played most of their “talented bench” (Lago’s term) for the final two quarters, giving the less-experienced players time on the court to hone their skills in league play.
Leading the scoring for the Greyhounds was Hailey Webb with 13 points, followed closely by 12 from Allie Espinoza and 10 from Ruby Leffew. It was the team’s eighth win in a row, dating back to the Dec. 8 loss to Arcata.
On Jan. 20, a rare Saturday game finds Healdsburg hosting Rancho Cotate for their second meeting this year. The Greyhounds won their Dec. 19 game 59-40, but Rancho is second place in the league with a 4-1 record, 10-8 overall.
Boys Play On
On Monday, the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, Healdsburg’s varsity played a non-league day game against Urban High in San Francisco, coming up short in the 59-35 final score.
The boys’ next game was Wednesday night at home against the Lobos from Elsie Allen, a rival in the five-team North Bay-Redwood league. The Lobos outpointed the Greyhounds, 45-34, in a lively game that left the home team in undisputed possession of last place in the league, with an 0-3 record, 3-14 overall.
Friday finds the Hounds traveling north to Ukiah to face the league-leading Wildcats (15-5, 3-0 in the NBR). Their next home game is more than a week away on Saturday, Jan. 27, against St. Vincent. Tip-off is 5pm at Smith Robinson Gym, Healdsburg High.
