The Lady Jaguars played host to seven visiting teams at their annual Rumble in the Jungle basketball tournament on Dec. 7-9, logging one win in three outings to finish in fourth place.
Participating schools included Windsor, Eureka, Montgomery, St. Bernard’s, Analy, Vanden, Napa and Rincon Valley Christian. Eureka defeated St. Bernard’s 51-29 in Saturday’s title game to take home the first place trophy.
The Jags opened the action on Thursday with a convincing 58-34 win over Napa, but weathered an offensive drought in a 35-21 semifinal loss to St. Bernard’s. Windsor squared off with Montgomery in Saturday’s hard-fought getaway game, falling to the Vikings, 48-35.
“We took advantage of our height and got some easy baskets against Napa but came out flat against St. Bernard’s,” WHS coach Joe Passalacqua reported. “We competed and played harder against Montgomery, but just had too many turnovers and shooting woes.”
The mixed result pushed Windsor’s preseason record to 2-4. The Jaguars will take a holiday break before opening the North Bay League schedule in a Dec. 22 clash with visiting Casa Grande (7:30 p.m.).
Ladies win one of three
The Jaguars kicked off the Rumble in the Jungle on Dec. 7 against Napa, playing the Indians on even terms to grab a 7-6 edge at the end of one. Windsor gained separation in the second period, outscoring Napa 18-8 top open up an 11-point halftime lead. It was all Jags after intermission, emptying their bench on the way to a relatively easy 58-34 rout.
Gabby Giddings paced the attack with 26 points and 10 rebounds. Other top scorers included Cecellia Smith (15 points, 9 rebounds, 3 assists), Tori Russotti (7 points, 7 rebounds), Sabrina Simili (4 points, 6 boards, 6 assists, 4 steals), Hannah May (4 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists) and Caitlyn Murphy (2 points, 1 rebound, 3 steals).
Windsor could not get the ball to drop in Friday’s semifinal meeting with St. Bernard’s, weathering a scoreless first quarter to fall behind 10-0. The Jags trailed 18-6 at the half. Things improved slightly in the final two quarters, but the Crusaders maintained the lead throughout in posting a 35-21 win.
May led the offense with nine points and three rebounds. Also in the scoring column were Smith (4 points, 5 rebounds), Mattie Murphy (4 points, 3 boards), Pauline Woodard (3 points, 4 rebounds) and Giddings (1 point, 5 rebounds).
The Jaguars met Montgomery in a battle for third place on Saturday, with the Vikings busting open a tight game with an 18-9 second-quarter run for a 23-16 halftime lead. The Jags stayed within striking distance in the final two periods but eventually fell, 48-35.
Giddings (8 points, 8 rebounds) and Smith (8 points, 8 boards, 5 assists) shared top scoring honors. Other top point-producers were Murphy (6 points, 2 rebounds, 3 steals), May (5 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists), Simili (5 points, 3 boards, 3 steals), Jackie Vieyra (2 points, 1 rebound, 1 steal) and Russotti (1 point, 3 boards, 1 steal).
