Braves baffle Lady Bulldogs

The Lady Braves did not come out firing on all cylinders at home Tuesday, but it made about as much of a difference as downgrading from a Ferrari to a Lexus.

Hamilton High (16-0, 1-0 MVL-North) shook off a sluggish start in the first quarter and still had ample horsepower to down Los Molinos 65-36 in Hamilton City.

The Lady Bulldogs fell to 5-10 on the season, and 0-1 in the MVL-North.

Hamilton never trailed in the contest, which began with Itzel Duran finishing off a fast break bucket off the opening tip, which she followed up with a baseline jumper.

Aubrey Bekendam, who led all scorers with 21 points, scored eight of those in the opening quarter, including four from the charity stripe.

After falling behind 10-3, Los Molinos pulled to within four points when Haley Ables first nailed a jumper from just inside the three-point line, and on the next possession, took a step back and drained a trey from almost the same spot.

Hamilton ran off the final eight points of the quarter to take a commanding 20-8 lead.

"When you get a big lead, they start throwing the ball around the gym," explained Hamilton coach Mark Priano about his squad's uncharacteristic turnovers. "Even with all the turnovers, we can still run our offensive sets. You still want them to play at a high level all game."

Any Los Molinos hopes for a comeback and upset win were dashed in the second quarter, when their shooters fell cold and the Braves out-scored them 19-5 to go into halftime holding a 39-13 advantage.

The Bulldogs showed no give in the second half, as they came out to put up 10 points in the third quarter. Claudia Pena, who paced the Bulldogs with 11 points, dropped a three-point bomb, as did Malissa Owensby.

"I was happy with the second half," said Los Molinos coach Val White. "We just need to come out and play our game, and not worry about what the other team is doing. You can't let your opponent determine what you do."

Emily Bailey then heated up in the fourth quarter, scoring six of her nine points in succession, but with Hamilton's non-starters on the floor for much of the second half, Karlene Shippelhoute one-upped Bailey by notching all eight of her points in the closing frame.

Itzel Duran also reached double digits in scoring with 10 points, and Audra Jones added eight.

Even with the slow start to the game, Hamilton's offense shot 53 percent from the field.

The Lady Braves hit the road for Biggs Tuesday, and Los Molinos hosts Quincy, also on Tuesday.

CONTACT Craig Purcell at 824-1036 or cpurcell@tcnpress.com.