COLUSA, CA (MPG) – In its 36th year, Colusa’s Jim Ernst RedHawk Classic has served as a preview of girl’s basketball in the North State and such was the case again as Colusa hosted Pierce along with teams from Durham, Fortuna, Sutter, Weed, Willows and Yuba City in the latest rendition of the event which ran from Dec. 5-7.
As play began last Thursday, both the RedHawks and Bears posted victories in their respective openers, but defeats in the second round set up a matchup between the two rivals for third place, where Colusa ultimately prevailed 51-32.
Coming off a disappointing 46-47 loss to Fortuna the previous evening, in which the RedHawks had an off night shooting, they rectified the situation against the Bears, taking a 20-6 lead by the end of the first quarter.
Colusa continued to pull away in the second period, capitalizing on turnovers as they held Pierce to just two points and took a comfortable 31-8 lead into the locker room at intermission.
Although the Bears were able to improve their shooting in the second half, the RedHawks remained in complete control of the game.
Colusa’s All-Tournament selection, Danica Chavez, dropped in a game-high 21 points, while Bella Badaluco and Peyton Miller added eight points apiece.
Destany Martinez drilled four shots from beyond the arc as she went on to finish with 18 points to lead Pierce, who also got a 12-point effort from its All-Tournament pick Rylie Delepierre.
To get to the third place game, the RedHawks first downed Willows 61-31 behind 22 points from Chavez and 10 points from Addison Lay.
McKenna Azbill, Alena Sanchez and Marlie Berry each pulled down seven boards.
In the narrow loss to Fortuna, Chavez went for 18 points, collected eight rebounds and dished out five assists, but it wasn’t enough for Colusa to hold off the Huskies.
Meanwhile, the Bears stunned Sutter 31-27 in the opener after Magali Jauregui drained a three then followed up with a steal and layup to ice the game with 12 seconds left on the clock.
Pierce was strong on the glass as well as Leah Charter finished with a game-high 16 rebounds, while Delepierre corralled 12 and Nita Rodriguez grabbed nine.
However, the following evening the Bears came up short, 26-39, against eventual tournament champion Weed after shooting just 22 percent from the floor.
Jaslene Condrey had a team-high eight points, with Jauregui and Charlie Wayman pitching in with six points apiece.
This week, Colusa (2-2) hosted Gridley on Tuesday before heading to the Woodland Christian Tournament, which runs from Dec. 12-14, while Pierce (2-1) was in Dixon on Dec. 10 before returning home for their own inaugural Natalie Corona Invitational which tips off Dec. 13.