Lathrop’s Shakara Porter started the second half Tuesday on 6-0 run, giving her team a much-needed boost against visiting Grace Davis.
It was not enough to dig the Spartans out of an early hole, as Davis held on for a 46-37 Western Athletic Conference win.
“They were guarding me hard to stop me from going in,” Porter said. “So instead, I used the team, and that allowed me to cut for passes.
“That worked better overall.”
Porter paced Lathrop (0-2 WAC, 7-9 overall) with 11 points, four blocks, four rebounds, three steals and an assist. Kirat Sidhu added eight points and four steals.
“We’re playing better,” Lathrop coach Dwayne Davis said. “Our biggest problem is that even though we play good defense, we give up multiple offensive rebounds. We’re too short to allow five or six opportunities to take a shot, and then picking up a foul because we are scrambling at the end.
“We have to do a better job at both ends of the floor, rebounding and boxing out on the defensive end, and then making sure that we go to the boards on offense. We are kind of like one and done.”
The two teams sparred early before Grace Davis (2-0, 14-1) went on a 15-0 run that extended into the second period.
“Basketball is a game of runs,” Grace Davis coach Tracy Cole said. “We knew they were coming, we know they’re a good team and we were ready for it.
“They are very scrappy and they work very hard, and they challenged us a lot. But in the end, we stuck to our game plan and we kept hustling. I am very proud of our girls.”
Grace Davis’ Kali Saykao earned high-point honors with 22 and teammate Tatyana Johns added 12 points.
Lathrop travels to Ceres on Thursday at 7:30 p.m.
Junior varsity
Lathrop 45, Grace Davis 9
Lathrop blanked Grace Davis in the first period and allowed one point in the fourth.
Kale Rogers paced Lathrop with 12 points and five rebounds with Sarah Garcia chipping eight points, six rebounds, five steals and two assists.
Freshman
Lathrop 41, Grace Davis 8
Laniyah Stroud-Prince was unstoppable for Lathrop, as she scored 23 points to go with seven steals and four blocks. Kaliyah Urrutia contributed 14 points, nine rebounds and five steals.
