Oak Ridge focused in silencing Sheldon

EL DORADO HILLS — The Oak Ridge girls basketball team beat the Sheldon Huskies, 56-37, in a Delta River League game Friday night at the Trojans’ gym.

“Our girls came out really focused and understood the game plan. We did a good job of taking them out of their rhythm. We missed some early shots, but after we got a couple to fall, it went from there,” Trojans head coach Steve White said.

Oak Ridge jumped out to an early 4-0 lead after consecutive layups from Ali Bettencourt and Haley Anderson. After a Sheldon hoop, Jenna Ford scored, and then Bettencourt nailed a jumper followed by a deep three pointer to extend the Oak Ridge lead to 11-2. Shelby Peters added a free throw, and the Lady Trojans took a 12-2 lead at the end of the first quarter.

In the second quarter, the Trojans (4-0, 17-2) separated themselves from the Huskies. Bettencourt knocked down a three pointer, and Peters put through back-to-back layups as the Lady Trojans exploded out to a 19-5 advantage. Guard Jenn Hoffman drained a trey followed by two Anderson buckets, and the hosts held a commanding 30-13 lead at halftime.

The Trojans came out the locker room, and Bettencourt immediately made another deep three followed by a runner down the lane. Oak Ridge took a 40-20 lead when Bettencourt knocked through her fourth three of the night. Anderson converted a pair of free throws, and Oak Ridge led 42-24 at the end of the third quarter. Bettencourt led all scorers with 15 points, and Anderson chipped in 11 for the Lady Trojans.

Even though they held a comfortable lead, the Trojans didn’t let up the intensity in the fourth quarter. Michelle Barkely got in on the action with a nice drive to the hoop for a lay-up, and Celeste Vitolas made a free throw and a spinning lay-up. Lauren Liebert made her return from a torn ACL and scored on a nice layup to conclude the scoring in the victory.

White is happy with the team’s progress after tough losses to Pflugerville (Texas) and Mater Dei earlier in the season.

“The young players have really gotten great experience against some tough competition because we’ve been beaten up, which I think really helped them,” White said. “The thing about this group is that because there are a lot of young players, you’re going to get some inconsistencies, so you’ll see me reaching for different people at times to see what they can contribute at that juncture in the game.”