Winter’s Cougars topples Winters

EL DORADO HILLS — Back-to-back third quarter three-pointers from Sabrina Tate and Hannah Dixon allowed El Dorado to extend the lead but team-wide pressure defense Saturday ultimately decided the Lady Cougars’ 41-21 win over Winters on the final day of the Shoot Out Tournament at Oak Ridge High School.

The victory was El Dorado’s first of the season. Thursday, the Cougars lost to Nevada Union 48-20 and fell 48-30 to Lincoln-Stockton on Friday, finishing 1-2 at the tournament.

El Dorado forced numerous turnovers and two dozen jump balls behind relentless pressure that made life miserable for the Warriors. The Cougars led just 15-11 in a low-scoring first half before a 14-3 third put the Placerville squad in the driver’s seat.

“We stepped up in third quarter and pressured them once they picked up the dribble, played the passing lanes and picked up steals,” El Dorado coach Pat Winter said. “We wanted to get a win under our belts so it was good to get that separation. For me, we grew a lot from Tuesday’s game against Ponderosa to today and did a nice job of improving.”

Key to the Cougars’ trapping half-court style was the hustle play of guards Jessica Jemmott, Tate, Dixon, Kathleen Cambridge, Rebecca McCauaghey, Shelby Ganzert, Carley Fowler and Gina Somara. El Dorado also hit the offensive boards to give itself second-chance shots.

Overall, the Cougars outscored Winters 25-10 in the second half. Tate finished with 10 points; Somara came off the bench to score nine; Dixon added seven; Maddie Zuber (10 rebounds), Ganzert and Cambridge each had four; Fowler had a basket; and Kylie Haverson (seven rebounds) a free throw.

“I thought we worked really well as a team and everyone did a good job contributing,” Tate said. It feels good to end the tournament with a win. Tough teams but good experience.”

Jerry Heinzer

Jerry Heinzer is going on 12 years as an employee of the Mountain Democrat and is currently the Sports Editor. Contact Jerry at 530-344-5074 or jheinzer@mtdemocrat.net. Follow @ JHeinzerMtDemo on Twitter.

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