Yellowjackets show tons of heart without Barrera; blown out by Steelers, 47-9

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Zoey Espino moves along the perimeter, looking for her open teammates.

Colton, CA—Without Madison Barrera, their team leader, the Lady Yellowjackets basketball squad faced off last night against the 13-3 Fontana Steelers and were blown out, 47-9.

The Yellowjackets were led by point guard Zoey Espino, who scored all five of her points in the first quarter. Desiree Cadena and Brianna Chacon also contributed two points each.

Without their star center, the Yellowjackets were overwhelmed from the start by the Steelers. Freshmen standout, Destiney Rentie, scored 18 points, dominating the middle. Sophomore Akami Garrett took advantage of the Steelers’ tough press defense, nabbing eight steals to go along with five points.

Despite the huge blowout loss to a strong team, coach Keisha Owens still saw huge improvement in her team. “Even though we didn’t do well on the scoreboard side, we did really well on the fight side. They showed a lot of fight tonight. They got on the floor, they got balls, they got a lot of jump balls that were anticipated by us today.”

Four games remain in the season, with three of them league rematches against Rim of the World, Bloomington, and Fontana. The Lady Yellowjackets play again on Thursday at home against Rim of the World.