The Scotts Valley High girls basketball team could not survive a spectacular homecoming from Lauren Price, who scored 44 points, including the game-winner with 1.5 seconds left, and gave the visiting St. Francis Sharks a 61-59 win over host Scotts Valley on Monday, Jan. 28.
Price, a senior who lives three minutes from Scotts Valley High School but travels to Watsonville each morning to attend St. Francis Central Coast Catholic High School, was unstoppable against the Falcons.
“Scotts Valley is a big competitor,” Price said after the game. “It’s always great competition when we play against them.”
The Falcons led throughout the game, including 21-12 after the first quarter and 40-31 at halftime, fueled by a strong full-court press that forced turnovers and led to easy baskets.
In the second half, to slow the pace, St. Francis dropped out of their full-court press and shut off the inside of the key with a 2-3 zone that seemed to frustrate the Falcons.
By end of the third quarter, St. Francis had closed the gap to 52-51 behind 37 points from Price.
Price, a left-handed shooter, hit a 3-pointer that opened the scoring in the fourth quarter, giving St. Francis its first lead at 54-52.
The Sharks increased the lead to 59-55 with 3:30 left, but free throws from Angela Silver and Nadene Hart tied the game at 59 with 2:10 remaining.
In the final two minutes, both teams traded possessions until Silver missed a jumper from the right baseline with seconds remaining. The Sharks pushed the ball up the court and found Price on the low block for the game-winning layup with 1.5 seconds left.
“I’m usually a bad shooter,” Price said. “I hit a few 3s and Sonja (Shumake) had a huge block and we were able to win.”
The Falcons were led by 20 points from Silver and 16 points from Hart. Hart, however, struggled from the field, converting just seven of 24 shots to go along with 17 rebounds. After a strong first half, Silver cooled off and wound up 5-for-18 from the field.
The loss dropped the Falcons to 6-3 in league, while St. Francis improved to 6-3, in a tie for second place behind Soquel (9-0).
Price’s 44 points were a personal record and a school record. Her previous single-game high was 24 points, and the school record was 29 points scored by Rochelle Roche in 2007.
Scotts Valley played after press time Wednesday, Jan. 30, against Harbor High and will host San Lorenzo Valley High at 5:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 1.
Boys fall too
The Falcon boys fell to St. Francis 74-41 on Monday, dropping to 0-19 on the season.
The team was led by 13 points from Ari Wargon and 11 from Willie Johnston.
The Falcons played at Harbor High after press time Wednesday and will host rival San Lorenzo Valley at 7 p.m. Friday.
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