Lincoln muscles its way past Rocklin in non-league showdown

The Rocklin High girls' basketball team made the visiting Lincoln High team earn its 55-44 victory Tuesday but the Fighting Zebras were too tall an order to overcome. The Thunder used speed and 30-percent shooting to counter Lincoln High's height advantage but the paint belonged to the Zebras. Still, Rocklin High managed to put Lincoln High center Katie Leeth and Maya Hodge on the bench in the first half with foul trouble. That helped give the home club a 24-22 halftime lead but it would not last. "They have a senior whose averaging 20 points a game and we just have a hard time matching up with her," Rocklin High head coach Jenna Villalba said. "They beat us up the way I would probably do and it made it hard for our kids to get the look that they wanted." The return of Leeth and Hodge in the second half proved the Thunders' undoing. Leeth scored 11 of her game-high 17 points in the final two stanzas. Hodge scored all of her 10 points in the final 16 minutes, hitting on 6-of-6 from the free-throw line. "We started off slow. We kind of put ourselves in a (situation) where we had to play catch-up" Lincoln High head coach Amy Avila said. "We came out in the second half and played with way more intensity to secure the lead pretty much through the second half but we started slow." The win improved the Zebras season to 11-3, with one more non-league game remaining before opening Foothill Valley League play Jan. 11 at Nevada Union High. Although Rocklin High fell below .500 at 8-9, the team has put in a lot of work already this season. Rocklin High begin Sierra Foothill League play last Friday hosting 10-7 Oak Ridge. "A lot of our kids haven't played varsity before this year, so it's going to be a learning experience for everyone," said Villalba, explaining how the COVID-19 pandemic set back the program, "a learning opportunity for everybody to just continue to grow their game. And we can continue learning in league and get a few wins and surprise some people." Lincoln High is poised to give Ponderosa High and Oakmont High a battle for Foothill Valley League supremacy. Although the Zebras frontcourt is formidable, the club's talent runs much deeper than size. "We definitely have a lot of depth, because when (Leeth's) covered we have a very good offensive team," Avila said. "We have a lot of good shooters. So, when teams are double-teaming and triple-teaming, I have other players that can definitely step up and make shots." Freshman Isa Keidel dropped in three from behind the arc to help give the Zebras an additional 13 points in all. Lincoln High shot 41 percent from the floor and gathered in nine offensive boards for second-shot opportunities. The Zebras held a 32-20 edge in rebounding over the Thunder but committed 21 turnovers to Rocklin High's 17. "It just has been a little bit hard on us this year," Villalba said, "but we have a very resilient team and they all love each other, They're family and that's kind of our goal is to create a family and build a culture. And we're on our way to doing that."