THREE LOCAL HOOPS TEAMS IN TOURNEY CHAMPIONSHIP GAMES

Three local basketball teams will be playing in tournament championships today — Elliot Christian’s boys in the St. Hope Elite Hoop Classic in Sacramento, Liberty Ranch’s boys at the Columbia Tournament and Lodi’s girls at the Pitman Tournament in Turlock.

Here’s how they got there, along with other local sports news:

BOYS BASKETBALL Varsity Liberty Ranch 75, James Lick 26

The Hawks led 42-13 at halftime on Thursday in a Columbia Tournament game that was never in question.

Corey Potthoff led Liberty Ranch with 20 points, followed by Patrick Roberts with 11, Jayden Baroni with 10, Jalen Patterson and Nick Edwards with eight each and Chandler Garcia and Chris Fielding with six each.

The Hawks (10-4 and on a sixgame winning streak) play Sonora at 3:30 p.m. today for the tournament championship. Elliot 83, Elk Grove 63

Jimmy Beltz drained 11 3pointers in the Eagles’ Gold Bracket semifinal win, including six in the first quarter, to finish with 35 points. Nate Bond added 17 points and eight rebounds, Cody Doell and Jalen Valverde had nine points each, Onkar Sidhu and Nick Figueroa had five each and Giovanni Bulleri had three.

Elliot plays Jesuit (Texas) at 6:30 p.m. today at Sacramento High. Tokay 76, Newark Memorial 65

The Tigers got their first win of the tournament on Thursday, led by Jorge Hernandez’s 30 points. Tokay (5-8) finishes the tournament against Pleasant Valley today at 2:30 p.m. Frosh-soph Lodi 51, San Juan 28

Nathan Shoup had 14 points and Jason Myers scored 11 in Thursday’s victory. Also scoring were Justin Blake (eight), Luis Perez (six), Justin Ozimy (four) and Marcell Roberts, Josh Myers, David Cribb and Joey Padilla with two each.

GIRLS BASKETBALL Varsity Lodi 63, Central Valley 35

The Flames led 37-19 at halftime and were led by Zoe Faulkner’s 13 points in Thursday’s win. Monica Valenzuela added 11, Aubrey Andrews had 10, Aiyana Evans and Malina Nino had six each, Ellie Van Tassell and Marissa Fabian had four each, Veronica Alejandrez, Abbey King, Alaina Gravenkamp and Katelyn Eproson had two each and Alexa Brand scored one.

Lodi plays Pitman for the tournament title at 7 p.m. today in Turlock. Frosh-soph Lodi 44, Rocklin 42

The Flames overcame a fourpoint deficit in the final minutes of Thursday’s win to improve to 11-1. Calista Morita led with 12 points, Maddie Ridgway had nine, Halle Faulkner had seven, Shelby Yarbrough had six, and Vasquez and Isabella Fugazi had five each.

Lodi plays Franklin-Elk Grove at 6 p.m. today for the championship of the Rocklin Tournament. Escalon 31, Tokay 18

Madison Gonzales led the Tigers with 12 points in Wednesday’s loss, with two each from Simone Medeiros, Jessica Saldana and Estefani Rodriguez.

GIRLS WRESTLING Varsity Queen of the Hill

Thirteen Tokay wrestlers are still alive at the Queen of the Hill tournament at La Sierra University in Riverside. Four of them are undefeated — Jazmin Ruiz at 121 pounds, Madisen Bozovich at 160, Alexis Cavero at 170 and Alexis Borruel at 189.

Brittany Mogler, Salina Torres, Sarah Gonzalez, Hayati Dougish, Bryanna Bernal, Jessi Gutierrez, Samary Ortiz, Anahi Ramirez and Karime Pedraza all have one loss and are fighting back through the consolation brackets.

Wrestling continues at 9 a.m. today.