SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Naveah Gavino tallied 16 points while Lucia Vicio came off the bench for another 12, leading the all-frosh St. Francis' JV Red squad to a 56-14 win over Del Campo in a season-opening girls' prep basketball game Saturday morning.
The Troubadours begin the year at 1-0, roughly matching the program's JV Gold and varsity wins at Will C. Wood from the night before. This also marks the first SFHS victory for athletics director Ryan Chisolm, who took the reins as interim head coach after John Bashore was elevated to the JV Gold team.
Abbey Pavelchik, Lauren Herbelin and Annie Swanson added seven points apiece, with Swanson providing three assists and an overall dominant presence on the defensive rebounding department (rebounding stats were not available).
St. Francis never trailed in the contest, opening with back-to-back three pointers from Bianca Espanola and Swanson within the first 70 seconds of play. Gavino made it eight unanswered before the Cougars got on the board at the 3:44 mark in the first, only to have Vicio score three buckets in transition down the stretch. Two such scores came on her own steals, while the third was the result of a Gavino steal and an outlet pass.
The Troubies smothered their guests with a press for the first half, with Vicio routinely forming half of a backcourt trap during her court time. As a result, they outscored Del Campo by 19-2 margins in each of the first two quarters for a 38-4 halftime lead. St. Francis called off the press after the break, but Swanson's defensive boards helped maintain possession and kept her team up by 50-9 entering the fourth. A Cougar putback at the 5:42 mark in the third ended what had grown into a 6:22 scoreless stretch, setting the board at 46-6.
Gavino scored on another steal-and-basket combo to start the fourth, Gianan Seghesio assisted Abbey Pavelchik at the 5:12 mark, and Vicio converted an assist from Swanson with 3:13 left to account for the entirety of the St. Francis scoring in the final frame.
JV Red reunites with JV Gold and varsity for a rare tripleheader on Monday. Games are 4:00, 5:30 and 7:00, respectively.
