Thunder quiet Rhinos' offense to win fourth game of the season

The Rocklin Thunder girls' basketball team forced a plethora of turnovers and played physical defense to win their fourth game of the season 58-33 against Twelve Bridges High on Tuesday night. "We take a lot of pride in our defense, we try to get into lanes, get up in your face and dictate the tempo based on our defense," Thunder coach Jenna Villalba said. "We started off a little slow defensively and then came out in the second half and turned it on. We do take a few chances here and there to go for steals, so obviously we are going to give a bit up but our goal is to turn defense into offense." Senior guard Beau Seipler and freshman Bianca Slone both scored 17 for the Thunder. Seipler hit three three-pointers in the second half and grabbed multiple rebounds. She has led Rocklin High in scoring to start the season with 14.3 points per game. The Thunder only have four seniors and are one of the younger teams in the area. "For the most part, I think a big thing I tell all the young girls is that age doesn't matter," Seipler said. "If you're young, you might as well give it all you have. On our team, something that I like is we treat everyone the same and all talk each other up on the bench. We are an all-around supportive team." The game was silent night for the Raging Rhinos, meaning that fans stayed mostly quiet until the 10th point of the game was scored. The Lady Rhinos didn't get double digits until the 3:15 mark of the second quarter as they struggled to shoot the ball and had a number of unforced errors. "We talked tonight about giving maximum effort in practice and we are really looking to push pressure in our practices," Rhinos coach Chris Garrison said. "We are drilling pressure releases, back doors, tight curls off of ball screens and our girls are just learning. They are young but each game, we are handling pressure better and better." Junior Jaisleen Kang led the Rhinos in scoring with 10 points while fellow junior Ayanna Woods had five points and provided a spark on the defensive front with blocked shots and numerous rebounds. Freshman Madalyn Sigrist also played a solid game with four points, five rebounds and three blocked shots. "She (Woods) has been awesome and has really taken on a leadership role," Garrison said. "I've asked her to mentor some of our younger girls and she has had a very positive attitude. You can see her leadership transfer into her game as well as she was battling for offensive rebounds and going for second-chance points." The win moves the Thunder to 4-3 on the season and they will prepare to face Vista Del Lago at home on Tuesday. The Rhinos are now 1-3 on the season with their sole victory coming against Silver Creek in a tournament on Friday. Twelve Bridges High will now prepare for another tournament that starts on Thursday against Laguna Creek at Valley High School.