The crowd erupted as junior Yasmin Gupta ran the fast break and finished a left-hand layup while drawing a foul.
After making her free throw, the Cavs led by 14 points with seven minutes remaining in the fourth quarter.
With only six players, the girls’ varsity basketball team beat Sacramento Adventist, 50-36, on Jan. 3.
The Cavs went into the fourth only leading by only three, before running away with it.
“They turned it on in the fourth,” coach Latonia Pitts said. “But it’s still not the level of intensity I want it to be.”
The Cavs upped their effort when they started pressing in the fourth quarter, according to Pitts.
Multiple steals and forced turnovers led to a 21-point outburst in the final quarter.
“I couldn’t press earlier in the game with only six players,” Pitts said. “I didn’t want to tire them out too early.”
Gupta had an impressive statline with 31 points, 12 rebounds and five steals.
And like the rest of the team, she scored most of her points in the second half.
“In the first half of games I’m testing things out,” Gupta said. “In the second half I’m a lot more comfortable, and I can get going.”
Junior Esme Bruce-Romo and sophomore Heidi Johnson were out due to illness.
The team will soon be adding more depth when junior Pria Nijhar joins, pending athletic clearance. She last played basketball in middle school.
Up next, the girls play El Dorado Adventist (5-0) at home on Thursday, Jan. 5, at 6 p.m.
—By Adam Dean
