Colusa girls defeat East Nicolaus
In a trophy case located in the foyer of Colusa High's gym, Caroline Meyers' name is etched on gold plating, commemorating her contributions to the RedHawk athletics program.
The 2011 graduate was a superb three-sport athlete, excelling in volleyball, basketball and track. Meyers was the A-D's 2010-11 Athlete of the Year and basketball Player of the Year.
As debilitating as it is to lose a player of Meyers' caliber, Colusa's girls basketball team is repeating the success it had last year — having four returning starters definitely softens the blow.
Those four girls combined for 40 of Colusa's points in Tuesday's 53-38 home victory over East Nicolaus. The RedHawks (11-2) face Gridley tonight before beginning Sacramento Valley League play on Thursday against Pierce.
Colusa is the reigning co-champion of the SVL, yet what is sticking with the team is a Northern Section Division V playoff loss to Portola last season.
A-D Coach of the Year Jerry Davies said the RedHawks have been working since that loss to wash out the bad taste of defeat.
"Our goal is to continue to improve from that (loss) and keep moving forward," Davies said. "We want to get all the way to that Northern Section championship game."
Efforts like Tuesday night is what it will take to accomplish that.
Colusa came out with a 17-5 lead in the first quarter and went into halftime leading 30-17. East Nicolaus made things close in the third.
East Nic (14-2) went on a 13-2 spurt to open the second half with Katie Michel scoring six of those points. That run cut the Colusa lead to 32-30.
Colusa responded with an 8-0 run of its own to end the quarter with a big 3-pointer from Mattie Myers followed by a jump shot from sophomore Yasmin Moreno. The Spartans fought back with six points to start the fourth, but the RedHawks were too much down the stretch, ending the game on a 13-2 spurt.
"I think that once we lost Caroline, at the beginning of the year we were all kind of scared about it," Myers said. "We've got our rhythm down and people have stepped up. We're just becoming a real team."
Myers, a junior who started at point guard last season, ended her night with 10 points, three assists and two steals. Senior Cheyenne Rogers also scored 10 points, pulled down seven rebounds and had five assists.
Emily Mobley led Colusa with 11 points and eight rebounds. Her sister Katie Mobley scored nine points and Yasmin Moreno also scored nine points to round out a balanced scoring night for Colusa.
"Thinking about last year, how much it hurt to lose, this year we're just going for it because we want to take it one step further," Myers said. "We have the heart and the passion."
Denise Kendrick led East Nicolaus with 12 points and Darleen Herrin added nine.
Colusa's JV team won 47-18. Ashley Ornbaun scored 11 points and Ashley Roman scored eight to lead Colusa (3-9).
