BY TREVOR HORN
THE NATOMAS BUZZ | @natomasbuzz
The Inderkum High School girls varsity basketball team lost their first round Sac Joaquin Section Division III playoff game 50-33 Tuesday night.
After finishing the regular season with a six-game winning streak, the loss to Manteca High School could be chalked up to less-than-average shooting by the Lady Tigers, communication breakdowns and too much Courtney Range.
With Manteca senior forward Range on the bench at the beginning of the game, Inderkum looked like a team that could keep pace.
Sophomore Kyliyah Daniel scored on a shot inside the paint and then dished it out to senior Sakara Brewer on the next possession to give Inderkum an early 5-3 lead—the last the team would hold in the game.
The Lady Tigers shot just 26.5 percent (10-37) against Manteca but did have eight assists on the 10 made field goals.
Inderkum (17-11, 8-2 TCC), trailing by 20 early in the fourth quarter, made a short run to get the score to 44-30 with just over three minutes to play with consecutive 3-pointers by Bailee Bernard.
But Manteca held Brewer to just six points.
Despite a distinct height advantage for Range and the Buffaloes, Manteca only out-rebounded Inderkum 25-24 thanks in part to Daniel, Alexus Steuben and Anthina McCaskel down low for the Lady Tigers.
Daniel led Inderkum with seven points and eight rebounds. Aleysha Simmons and Bernard scored six for Inderkum. But once on the court, Range led all scorers with 14 points.
Inderkum head coach Phillip Hampton said he has high hopes for the underclassmen returning next year, including freshman point guard Shymir Mitschan-Baldwin.
“I am ecstatic,” Hampton said. “With Shymir and Kyliyah and a couple of other players, I am … very excited for next season.”
Meanwhile the Natomas High School girls varsity basketball team (5-18, 4-6) ended their season Tuesday with an 81-19 playoff loss to No. 1 seed Christian Brothers High School.
Both leading scorers for the Lady Nighthawks this season, sophomores Halle Hamre and Hayley Polk are expected back for the 2013-14 season. Hopes are that forward Morganne Johnson, who averaged nine points and nine rebounds a game to start the season, will also return from a knee injury that sidelined her most of the 2012-13 season.
“We had several good moments and flashes,” Natomas High’s head coach Stuart Welch said. “ (I have) moved expectations up for next season. We got a solid core.”
Reach Trevor Horn at [email protected] and on Twitter @trevhorn.
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