Cougars Out-Perform Buffaloes 65-23

The girls varsity basketball team was too much for the Amador High School Buffaloes to handle as the Cougars earned a one-sided 65-23 victory yesterday at Capital Christian High School.

Capital Christian had the entire game under control and put pressure on Amador by forcing turnovers and capitalizing on fast break plays. Head coach Suzanne Baker said that the fast breaks helped give her players momentum.

"We'll pressure, that helps us get the energy that we need, and we would prefer to steal a lay-up versus running and setting up," Baker said. "We can do that too, but it speeds up the game a little bit and we're going for multiple possessions, so it helps."

The Cougars already had a commanding 21-5 lead after the first quarter and did not allow the Buffaloes to score more than three buckets in any quarter.

Following the victory, Capital Christian has a solid 7-2 overall record – although no conference games have been played yet.

Baker said that she was pleased with the effort that her team put forth to win the game.

"Our goal is to have everyone come out with energy and contribute, and they did," Baker said.

Three Cougar players, forwards Brea Faulk, Coryn Galloway and Shelby Hicks, scored double digits in the game. Hicks scored 12 points and grabbed eight rebounds while Galloway recorded a double-double with 11 points and 15 rebounds.

Faulk scored a season-high 27 points, had a season-high four assists and grabbed six rebounds, which increases her points per game average to 16.8 and rebounds per game sits at 8.9. Baker said she was glad to see Faulk improve from struggles earlier in the season.

"She had not been hitting her shots earlier in the season and now she's back to her normal self, which is nice," Baker said.

Hicks is averaging 5.4 rebounds and 7.1 points per game while Galloway is averaging 11.1 rebounds and 7.6 points per game. But Baker was most impressed with Galloway's performance.

"She actually powered up versus trying to be a finesse player, so I was very happy with that," Baker said. "Usually when she plays against bigger players, she doesn't want to bang inside, but she did this time.

"She played great," she said. "She had a great game."

Baker also said that the team is continuing to work on mistakes made from the start of the season.

"We had trouble putting the ball in the hole," Baker said with a laugh. "Our shooting percentage was around 29 percent during the first two games.

"They're working hard; they're coming along."

Capital Christian plays a tournament at El Dorado High School this weekend, and faces Wood High School at 5:30 p.m. on Dec. 21.