Rivalries rule!
Quincy High’s Lexi Baumgartner drills down the court in Portola. Lexi scored a total of 23 points. Photo by Mari Erin RothWow! What a pair of games the Portola Tigers and Quincy Trojans put on in Portola on Friday, Jan. 24. The athletes each deserve special awards for pulling out all the stops and leaving nothing in reserve.
The Portola Tiger girls struck a sweet score with their fourth league victory and eighth straight win in a row. They beat the Quincy girls 63-43 in front of a packed house of fans from both sides. The play was dramatic and exciting.
In the boys game, the final score was 63-62 for the Trojans and the game was a thrill a second. The court was a mass of hands and feet, stellar shots, pickups, turnovers and fast, fast play. There were never more than 6 points separating the two teams the whole way through.
The fans started at a fevered pitch and escalated with each point that hit the scoreboard.
Tiger girls beat Trojans
The Quincy girls outscored the Tigers in the fourth quarter, 14-10, but the Tigers dominated all others besting the Trojans by 3 points the first quarter, 11 points the second quarter and 10 points the third quarter.
Mya Wilson hit four 3-pointers! Emily Sheridan and Sophie Ward also scored on a long shot. Overall, Wilson led Portola with 20 points while Margaret Canseco scored 19 and Emily Sheridan had 11.
“I was really proud of how the girls came out and set the tone early with some tough man defense,” said Portola’s head girls basketball coach Chip Wilson. “We communicated well with each other, switching and talking with one another that got us some stops and that led to some fast break points which helped to stretch out our lead.”
“I was also pleased with our rebounding, which hasn’t been great lately,” said coach Wilson. “The girls are finally learning to box out a little more and that’s only going to help in the final stretch of the season.”
The Quincy girls played a good solid game. Quincy’s Lexi Baumgartner’s competitive spirit showed in the 23 points she threw onto the scoreboard, matching Portola’s Mya Wilson by landing four 3-pointers.
Emmary Wingfield scored 8 points (two 3-pointers) and Annie Froggatt added 5 points (one 3-pointer). Brystol Beatley hit three of her four free throw opportunities and Baumgartner scored on five of nine.
Trojan boys beat Tigers
The quarter scores were 16-14 PHS, 34-32 QHS, 48-47 QHS and the final 63-62 QHS. Quincy couldn’t get ahead until the final minute of the second quarter, it seemed Portola had it and wouldn’t let it go. But it happened and both teams continued neck and neck for the balance, as they had in the first two quarters.
Tiger Keegan Folchi landed 28 points for Portola. Shane Curren added 10 points. Owen Bowling and Dylan Gonsalvez both added 8 points. Folchi’s total includes two 3-pointers and Curren scored on one.
Folchi hit six of his 12 free throw shots, one when the score was 61-61 that looked to be the winning point as it turned 62-61 with less than a minute in the game.
Curren led in rebounds with 10 and Bowling picked up seven. Folchi gathered six.
Folchi had four personal fouls and managed to stay in the game. Gonsalvez and JT Massey are credited with three and all other Tigers were issued two each.
“I am extremely proud of my boys. They competed their butts off and did everything I asked of them,” said PHS’ head coach Tim Brubaker. “We just didn’t knock down our free throws and it cost us the win.”
The Trojans lost senior captain Cameron Dingel in the fourth quarter for an abundance of fouls with QHS in the lead 56-55 and 4:05 left in the game.
The Tigers took advantage, but before time ran out, the Trojans picked up the slack and managed to get the most important winning point on the board.
Before being sentenced to the bench, Dingel landed more than 30 Quincy points. He hit four 3-point shots. Brady Peay scored with two long shots and a 2-pointer, and Garrison Dyrr also scored 8 points.
