Defensive stop sends Hawks to fourth straight victory

The Liberty Ranch High boys basketball team concluded its pre-season schedule on Tuesday by slipping past Center on the road, 73-72.

The Hawks fell behind early, trailing 23-13 after the first quarter, but a comeback and a defensive stop on a Center inbound pass with 2.5 seconds remaining handed Liberty Ranch (15-2) its fourth straight victory.

Jalen Patterson led the Hawks with 29 points, followed by Chandler Garcia with 13, Jaime Gonzalez with 11 and Jayden Baroni, Esaac Padilla and Chris Fielding with six each.

Liberty Ranch opens Sierra Valley Conference play on Friday at Galt.

Cody Doell led the Eagles with a double double in Tuesday’s CCAA win, with 25 points and 10 rebounds.

Juwan Couey added 20 points and six boards, Nate Bond had 12 points, Nate Gotgoto-Washington had 10 points and eight rebounds, Ian Malagon had nine points and 11 assists, Nick Figueroa had eight points and Josh Alejandre had four points as Elliot improved to 9-5 overall and 3-0 in league play.

The Eagles play rival Brookside Christian on the road at 8 p.m. on Friday. Frosh-soph

Dee Ware scored 16 points and Logan Kottinger added 14 to lead the Eagles to a CCAA victory on Tuesday.

Chandler Miller added 13 points, Amari Maze, Jaylen Lee and Joe Barnhardt added eight points each, Caleb Williams and Malaki Shareff had six each, Ryan Ehresman had two and Kardale Tanner had one.

GIRLS BASKETBALL Varsity Isabel Moore scored 10 points for Liberty Ranch (12-5) in Tuesday’s non-league game in Sacramento. Ashley Kirbyson followed with eight points, Kloey Calkins six, Olivia Nelson five and Courtney Six and Ana Contreras four each. Giovanna Parino and Briley Jordet had two points each, and Tori Azevedo one.

The Hawks had 33 rebounds in the game. Kirbyson had eight boards, Jordet six and Calkins five. Liberty Ranch committed 26 turnovers.

CORRECTION Lodi High boys basketball player Jaylin Reed fouled out toward the end of the second quarter in Friday’s non-league game at Bear Creek High. He received his fifth and final foul on a technical foul on a verbal outburst. Reed is eligible to play in the Flames’ Tri-City Athletic League opener at Tracy this Friday.

Reed’s ejection was incorrectly described in pages 9 and 10 in a story in Saturday’s News-Sentinel.