A second-half scoring drought on Monday kept East Union’s girls basketball team from making the 41st annual Tom Hawkins/Tracy Breakfast Lions Tournament championship game.
The Lancers are in the third-place game after dropping a tough 42-41 decision to Pittsburg at Tracy High’s Swenson Gym. They finished tied for the top spot in their pool, but El Capitan — which East Union beat on a buzzer beater last Friday — gets the nod on points differential.
Sophomore guard Jurnee Cox poured in 26 points for Pittsburg (6-6), but it was on offense where the Lancers had their struggles after staking a 27-17 halftime lead. The Pirates outscored them 15-4 in the third quarter, and East Union made just 11 of 21 free throws.
“They did a good job and played good defense — made us work for it,” East Union coach Jim Agostini said. “But we did not show enough patience offensively.”
Zyondupree Beasley led East Union (9-5) with 13 points. Alessandra Montes gathered eight rebounds but was limited to three points.
The third-place contest is scheduled for a 2 p.m. tip-off at Swenson Gym. East Union will battle Pacheco (9-3).
Pacheco 41, Ripon 33
The Indians (6-8) had a four-game winning streak snapped and ended up 2-1 in pool play. They’ll take on Trans-Valley League rival Escalon (6-8) for fifth place today starting at 12:30.
Pacheco gained separation in the second quarter when it outscored Ripon 16-6 for a 24-14 lead. The freshman tandem of Nikki Nance and Mary Mava paced the Panthers with 13 and 12 points, respectively.
Anandjap Dhami led Ripon with nine points. Danika Escola and Leila Sanchez added six apiece.
Tracy 44, Manteca 40
Tournament host Tracy (5-4) secured its spot in the title game thanks to a dominant 19-6 fourth quarter.
Manteca (5-8) led 34-25 after three quarters.
Michailla Springs scored nine points for the Buffaloes, who get a rematch with Kimball (7-3) in the ninth-place game this morning at 9:30. They previously met on Dec. 4, with Kimball winning decisively, 67-27.
Tracy will square off with El Capitan (13-3) at 3:30.
