Shots don't drop

It was just one of those nights for the Live Oak High girls basketball team.

The Lions got every shot they wanted to against visiting Rio Vista's 2-3 zone, but failed to put the ball in the bucket in a 41-29 Sacramento Valley League loss Friday night at Ron Pritchard Gym in Live Oak.

"It wasn't poor shot selection, we were just off tonight," Live Oak coach Erin Walton said. "The ball hit every part of the rim, but refused to go in."

The Lions (8-7, 3-2) had plenty of open looks in the first eight minutes of the game, but made just 2-of-19 shots from the field as Rio Vista took a 9-5 lead at the end of the first period.

The second quarter belonged to two-time league most valuable player Macie Wilcox, who canned three consecutive 3-pointers at the beginning of the period as Rio Vista (7-14, 3-2) opened up a 22-7 lead.

Wilcox went on to score 12 of her game-high 23 points in the second stanza as the Rams took a 25-9 lead into halftime.

Again, the Lions had their share of open looks but failed to turn them into points by sinking just 2-of-17 shots in the second period.

"I think we caught Live Oak on a bad night," said Rio Vista assistant coach Ken Gaston, who was filling in for head coach Bruce Vieira, who was ill. "Our goal was to control the boards and their running game and I think we did that tonight."

Although the Lions weren't scoring in the first half, they did receive a boost from senior forward Stephanie Owen, who had seven rebounds and five steals before going down with a knee injury early in the third period.

"That's a big loss," Walton said about losing Owen. "She's our best rebounder and best defensive player. She's a third-year varsity player and our team relies on her down low."

After scoring just nine first-half points, Live Oak went on a 6-0 run midway through the third period, eventually trimming the Rams' lead to 31-19.

But again Wilcox scored when the Rams needed her most by sinking another 3-pointer at the end of the period to give Rio Vista a 34-19 lead heading into the final stanza.

"She's been the MVP of the league twice," Gaston said. "She leads our team in scoring and getting those points early definitely worked to our advantage."

A jumper by Melissa Anderson got Live Oak to within 10 points, 34-24, with five minutes left to play, but that was as close as the Lions would get.

"Live Oak is strong on the boards, but I thought our post players did a good job," Gaston added. "And all our guards made layups tonight."

"Defensively, it was not good," Walton said. "But collectively, it was nice to see others contribute."

Cassie Caffas scored seven points to lead the Lions.

"You like when they're united as a team, but on nights like this you don't want them to take team unity that far," Walton said.

Contact sports assistant Andy Arrenquin at 743-0512 or aarrenquin@appealdemocrat.com