Yellowjackets squander lead, lose to Bruins in final minutes, 25-22

Lia Tovar has big game off the bench with 11 points, but turnovers and poor decisions hand Colton their second loss in Skyline league play.

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Alyssa Guadalajara

Savannah Govea struggles to push past the Bruin defense in the Yellowjackets 25-22 loss to their local rivals.

Colton, CA—Returning from a successful 2-1 winter break, Colton came into the Hubbs gym on Wednesday night ready for a league match against local rivals Bloomington High. The game was a low scoring, physical battle, with Colton falling in the final seconds, 25-22.

The game ended in dramatic fashion. The buzzer went off prematurely and Bloomington’s team began to celebrate on the court. The premature buzzer masked a final whistle with 1 second on the clock for a Bruin traveling call. This set up a last second chance for Colton to send the game to overtime. Lia Tovar missed a corner three as time expired, and Bloomington commenced their celebration.

Head coach Keisha Young was worried about this game. “We didn’t have a lot of practice coming into this game so I was really worried,” she said.

Both teams came out tense at the opening tipoff. The first points weren’t scored until over halfway through the first quarter as both teams kept turning the ball the over and struggling to shoot against their defenses.

In the second quarter, Colton’s Lia Tovar warmed up, scoring the team’s final seven points en route to her game high 11 points. Colton went into the halftime ahead by 9, 15-6.

However, in the second half, Bloomington fought back behind the play of freshman Zanorah Livington and senior Favor Odaba, who both scored 6 points. They cut Colton’s lead to five at the end of third, and finally took the lead with 3:30 left to play in the fourth quarter. Colton rallied, but their offense struggled to find the bottom of the net.

Colton is now 0-2 in Skyline league play. With this loss, their chances of making the playoffs have become slimmer.

Tonight, the boys and girls basketball teams travel into the mountains, hoping to make a comeback against Rim of the World’s Fighting Scots.

 

Notes:

Boys basketball traveled to Arroyo Valley for a league match against the Hawks. With a roster impacted by multiple injuries to their big men, Colton lost 72-41.

The JV team defeated Bloomington 61-11 behind a scoring onslaught by freshman Gabriella Gomez. Gomez led the JV squad with 35 points in the lopsided victory.