Streaking Analy Knocks Off Casa Grande Girls

By Scott Silveri

A double-digit deficit in the first quarter created an uphill climb that the Casa Grande High girls basketball team couldn’t complete, losing to defending Sonoma County League champion Analy, 55-40, on Tuesday.

“The bottom line is we have to get tougher,” said Casa Grande head coach Dan Sack. “We got dominated on the boards and it's physical. They're just getting pushed out of place.”

Analy's win is its seventh game in a row, improving its record to 8-5, 2-0 in SCL.

Casa suffers its second league loss as and falls to 9-7, 1-2 in SCL.

The Tigers have another tough test this week visiting Sonoma Valley (10-5, 2-1). Casa will try to get back on track on the road in Healdsburg (9-7-1, 0-3). Both games are Thursday night.   

Analy went on a 10-2 run to close out the first quarter and take a 16-5 lead.

With the Gaucho defense keying on Analy's leading scorer, Katy Lowry (17.9 points per game), another Tiger got hot early on. Guard Kelley Benck scored nine of her 22 points in the first as Analy dealt an early blow to the Gauchos.

Casa relied on shooting the 3-points shot, perhaps because of the early deficit, attempting 22 shots from deep on the night.

“We're a young team,” said coach Sack, “and we're not big and strong in the post so we're going to have to live and die with our guards shooting the ball.”

Stephanie Sack hit two of her three 3-pointers in the second quarter to cut the lead down to 26-17 at halftime.

Rebounding was a big factor to open the second half. Benck knocked down a 3-pointer after three Tiger offensive rebounds.

“If it's a physical game, we have to step up and be more physical,” said coach Sack. “If that's the way the game is going to be called, we have to step up and play that way and we haven't made the adjustment yet.”

Facing a 37-25 disadvantage starting the fourth quarter, Stephanie Sack and the rest of the Gauchos tried to claw their way back into the game.

A 3-pointer by Lyndsey Murnin and a lay-up by Sack pulled Casa to 39-32. A converted free-throw by Sack got the deficit down to six, but then the Tigers kicked it in to an extra gear.

 Analy finished the game off outscoring Casa 16-7, making 8 of 12 free-throws down the stretch.

 “Time and again I've heard how Casa and Sonoma are No. 1 and No. 2 in the SCL, everybody has forgotten about us,” said Analy head coach Earl Pasamonte. “It's a little irritating to the girls when they read it all the time, so they play with a little bit of a chip on their shoulder.”

Sack dominated the scoring for Casa with a game-high 24 points. Lowry hit two from beyond the arc and was 4-of-6 from the charity stripe to finish with 10 points.