SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Senior Lexi London and freshman Elise Vipond combined for four three-pointers in a span of less than three minutes in the fourth period to lift St. Francis from a four-point deficit to a 52-47 win over Whitney in the varsity finale of a Sierra Foothill League doubleheader Friday night.

The Troubadours pick up their first league win at 1-2, while evening their overall mark to 7-7. The Wildcats slip to 8-8 for the season and remain winless in SFL play at 0-2.

London finished with a team-leading 26 points with four assists, three of which set up Vipond. The SF freshman phenom drained 5 of 9 from beyond the arc en route to 18 points.  

The Troubies held a 25-18 halftime lead, thanks to a hot start and strong finish to the second period. London drained her first trey on the first possession on an assist from sophomore Jocelyn Dickinson, then Natalia Zitelli drove the lane a minute later to push SF to a 14-6. Whitney managed to close that gap to 18-16 before London drew the and-one foul on a pull-up shot with 2:39 left. She made the ensuing free throw, then on the next trip down, she kicked a pass out to an open Vipond for a three-pointer, making it 24-16. Vipond later made 1 of 2 from the line to stretch the Troubie advantage to nine at 25-16, their largest lead of the game.

Whitney sophomore Lilly Molloy knocked down a bucket at the 0:22 mark before halftime to close the gap to seven, a play that began a 13-3 overall Wildcat run. Post Ela Aras hit a step-back shot in the paint to cut the SF lead down to just 28-26, then three trips to the stripe eked out enough points for Whitney to regain a 29-28 lead at the 2:13 mark. Eras later fed Khloe Romig at the right block to extend that lead to 31-28. St. Francis finally ended a stretch of more than five minutes without a field goal when London found Colleen Medina on a baseline cut with 1:06, reducing the Wildcat to a single tally.

Whitney led by a many as four on three occasions, the last of which came when Natalia Benavidez beat the shot clock at the 6:28 mark in the fourth, pushing her team to a 38-34 advantage. London then scored three straight: finishing a fast break on a Hassanah Ramsey-Gilbert defensive rebound at 5:34, tying the game on a mid-range jumper at 4:46, then driving the lane to put SF back on top, 40-38, with 4:11 to go.

Benavidez tied the game for a fourth time on a successful up-and-under shot on the next Whitney ball, then the Troubies reclaimed the lead when Ramsey-Gilbert set up Vipond for a corner three with 3:28 left. That began a stretch of 2:38 in which St. Francis scored the four threes: London for back-to-back to swell the lead to 49-42, then Vipond with another corner bomb as the shot clock expired with 0:50 left.

Whitney made its own plays during the final minutes, including two Aras field goals plus a Brooklynn Wade three-pointer that somehow escaped Ramsey-Gilbert's block attempt. However, the Troubies' three-point stroke, plus key defensive plays from Zitelli and Medina, ultimately protected the lead.

London also took care of business at the free-throw line, shooting a perfect 7-for-7.

The varsity victory followed losses for the two St. Francis junior varsity programs. JV Gold fell to Whitney by a 48-34 final, despite 23 points and seven rebounds from junior Audrey Bashore plus a pair of three-pointers from sophomore Emmy Cheatham. Unfortunately, no other Troubie managed a field goal in the contest.

JV Red led off the tripleheader by hosting El Dorado, as the Wildcats did not field a frosh-soph team this year. Sadie Favreau and Lily Jimenez each hit three-pointers en route to seven and five points, respectively, but a long scoreless stretch doomed the Troubies to a 39-16 loss to the Cougars.

Varsity and JV Gold continue SFL action at Rocklin on Tuesday, while JV Red heads to Antelope on Thursday for a non-league matchup.