Balanced attack by Garces overwhelms Golden Valley
| Friday, Jan 29 2010 11:00 PM
Last Updated Friday, Jan 29 2010 11:46 PM
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Garces’ Caitlin Bernardin and Macey Dawson go for a loose ball with Golden Valley’s Cristina Soto.
If Garces' girls basketball team goes on to an undefeated Southeast Yosemite League season and takes this 16-game winning streak into the postseason, no one will remember Friday's game.
It wasn't a big-name opponent, and it wasn't always pretty basketball, but when the Rams finished their 69-41 victory, they were one step closer.
"Hey, you've got to win them all," Garces coach Tod Denison said.
The Rams (20-2, 7-0 SEYL) used a 29-3 first-half run to snap out of an early funk and cruised behind double-figure scoring from four players, led by Sarah Allen's 24 points.
Strangely enough, Caitlin Bernardin, the Rams' second-leading scorer and a returning All-Area player, didn't even score in the first half. She wound up with 11 points despite an off shooting night, and she found plenty of other ways to contribute: 11 assists, seven rebounds and six steals.
"The stats mean nothing to me," Denison said. "That's for the (news)paper. "All I want is a W. I don't care who scores. She's dishing the ball out, and she gets us going, so it's fine by me."
Abby Wattenbarger added 14 points and Cara Clayton had 10 for Garces.
Wattenbarger scored back-to-back baskets to break an 8-8 tie, and the rout was on in the second half. Golden Valley (6-16, 3-4) had just one field goal in 10 minutes during a run that didn't end until Garces had a 26-point lead at the half.
In the second half, things were more even, with Golden Valley even going on a 9-2 run to pull within 19 at one point.
"Not a good game; I'm not happy at all," said Denison, whose team plays Bakersfield (5-1 SEYL) on Wednesday.
"You're going to have ups and downs in the season, but we can't do that. Somewhere down the line, you're going to face a really good team, and you can't do that. You've got to come to play every night. I kind of understand it, but you still can't do that."
Danielle Madrid and Alisha Toomer had nine points apiece to lead Golden Valley, which played its seventh game under coach Curt Wilson, who took over at midseason.
"In the second half, we actually fought," Wilson said.
"Until this point, when a team gave us a haymaker, we couldn't respond. Tonight we responded. We didn't quit, especially against a team like that."
