SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Sophomore post Tayli Paeu-Lindgren posted a double-double of 12 points and 15 rebounds while senior Sydney Teoh drained a pair of three-pointers en route to a matching scoring total of 12, but St. Francis could not protect its second-half comeback in a 43-35 loss to Ponderosa in a Peter J. Saco Foundation Game on Wednesday night.
The Foundation Games, held throughout the Sac-Joaquin Section and named in memory of beloved former commissioner Pete Saco, do not count toward the regular-season records and are not considered for postseason seeding purposes. Instead, they serve as fund-raising exhibition games for the SJS' Dale Lacky Scholarship, with all admissions devoted to that program. Even the officials donate their time to the numerous games throughout the area.
Half of Paeu-Lindgren's points came at the free-throw line, including three that started the Troubadours' initial rally from a 14-4 deficit early in the second. Meanwhile, Teoh hit both of her treys within the first 97 seconds of the second half – the first giving SF its first lead of the game, and the second extending the margin to 24-20 at the 6:23 mark in the third.
Junior Lexi London added another nine points, but the trio of Paeu-Lindgren, Teoh and London accounted for the entirety of the 10 St. Francis field goals. The Troubies finished the game with a .222 shooting clip.
SF fell behind by as much as a 10-point margin when Bruins senior Casey Dreiling knocked down a runner off the glass early in the second period. However, Paeu-Lindgren drew fouls in the paint in back-to-back possessions, and made 3 of 4 to begin what grew into a 12-3 run before the halftime break. London scored on a drive at the 5:28 mark, then turned a Karly Okamoto pass into a three-pointer with 4:18 to go. Teoh scored four straight to finish the half: two at the stripe plus two more on a defensive rebound turned into a coast-to-coast transition score. Only a three-pointer from Pondo senior Brooklynn Nordquist interrupted the SF run, and kept the guests on top at the break by a 17-16 margin.
Teoh opened the third by draining a three from the top of the key, then Laila Mendoza assisted Paeu-Lindgren in the lane to give the Troubies a 21-17 edge. Nordquist responded by burying a three-pointer despite releasing after the shot clock sounded, but Teoh answered back with her second bomb just 11 seconds later.
Nordquist continued to prop up her team offensively, sinking a turnaround jumper at the 5:32 mark, then converting a Dreiling assist to equalize at 24-24 with 4:34 remaining. London's 12-foot pull-up and Paeu-Lindgren's 2-for-2 trip to the line kept SF out front through three frames, even after Pondo junior Rowan Thomas delivered her second corner three of the game.
Paeu-Lindgren's putback early in the fourth pushed the Troubie advantage to 30-27, but Bruin senior Sammie Porter added to her team's perimeter success with the equalizer. London and Nordquist traded field goals to tie the game a third time at 32-32, then after Layla Hernandez made the most of the double bonus, Nordquist assisted Thomas just a second left on the shot clock and 2:51 left on the game clock for the contest's fourth tie of 34-34. Nordquist then struck again for the go-ahead three with 2:26 left, lifting Pondo to a 37-34 edge.
Later facing a 39-35 deficit after another Paeu-Lindgren free throw, the same St. Francis team that got into early foul trouble was forced to pile up fouls with the hopes of slowing the clock and sending the Bruins to the line in the final minute. The Troubies did keep their guests off the board and even forced a five-second violation, but could not fill the four-point hole. When they finally got Pondo at the line, Nordquist hit the front-end of a bonus trip with 25 seconds left. The senior guard added yet another trey at the buzzer to bring the Bruins' winning edge to eight.
St. Francis officially starts the 2024-25 season at Vista Del Lago in a doubleheader. The jayvees tip off at 5:30 with varsity following at 7 p.m. The Troubies' home opener takes place on Tuesday against Rio Americano.
