JV/frosh roundup: Sanchez takes top spot at wrestling tourney

The Davis High contingent came home happy from last weekend’s Albany Invitational, a junior varsity wrestling tournament.

Sophomore Deven Sanchez led the way for the Blue Devils, winning gold in the 220-pound division, while classmate Marquis Turner finished second at 145 pounds.

“Deven used great head pressure and fundamentals to win. He stuck to his plan on the mat,” said DHS coach Ty Brown. “Marquis showed some flashes of brilliance, and wrestled with much better body control.”

Also for the Devils, freshman 132-pounder Robbie Hughes and sophomore Poncho Cisneros wrestled tough in going 1-2. One of Hughes’ loses came in an exciting 18-17 decision.

DHS JV girls basketball

The Lady Blue Devils are now 12-6 after opening their Delta Valley Conference schedule last week with tough wins over Elk Grove and Grant.

Hosting the Thundering Herd on Tuesday, DHS came out extremely cold on the offensive end. However, stifling defense kept the locals in the game and, despite being held scoreless in the second quarter, the Devils trailed by just two at the half.

Behind the inside duo of Essence Moore and Sophie Seng, Davis finally got going in the fourth period and put away Elk Grove, 34-24.

Moore, who had four points and six of her seven rebounds in the decisive final quarter, finished with a team-high 10 points. Seng scored all nine of her points in the second half, including two late buckets that put the Blue Devils ahead for good.

The other DHS starters all contributed in different ways, as point guard Kelly Goedde-Matthews notched four assists and five steals, guard Sarah Sherwin scored four points and wing Alaina King grabbed four boards and four steals. The Devils got a spark off the bench from Sarah Cordano, who finished with a season-high six points, and Faith Harlan (three points and five rebounds).

The locals then traveled to Grant to take on an undermanned, but scrappy Pacers team in a Friday night affair. Davis again came out of the gates slowly, and this time it resulted in an eight-point halftime deficit.

Grant’s advantage was four at the start of the final quarter, but a steal and running floater by King tied the game with 2:30 left and then a long pass and conversion from Goedde-Matthews to King gave the Blue Devils their first lead with under two minutes to play. Seng provided a late free throw to give DHS a three-point advantage with under 10 seconds remaining and when King blocked a last-second 3-point attempt the Devils escaped with a 36-33 victory.

King scored eight of her game-high 11 points in the fourth period and added six steals. In addition, Goedde-Matthews had a solid all-around performance (three points, four rebounds, four assists and four steals) despite constant pressure from the pesky Pacers guards. Seng (seven points) and Moore (three) battled hard under the boards against the a taller Grant squad, each finishing with nine rebounds, while Harlan (four points) came off the bench grab five caroms of her own.

With contests this week against Laguna Creek and Monterey Trail, DHS is on a six-game win streak and has prevailed in 11 of their last 13 outings.

DHS JV boys basketball

The Blue Devils DVC play by splitting games against Elk Grove and Grant last week.

In a 60-53 road win over the Thundering Herd on Wednesday, DHS’ execution and free-throw shooting down the stretch was the difference.

Drew Gnos led the locals with 14 points — including 6-of-7 from the charity stripe — and five steals, Nate Curtis had 10 points and three rebounds and the Devils got strong board work from Carl Burton-Hill (eight rebounds and eight points) and Ryan Kreidler (six boards, seven points). In addition, Bailey Yarrow posted five points and three rebounds, Glen Welch contributed five points and two steals and Kevin Austin canned four points to go with two assists.

Davis’ Liam Neville, who nailed a trey, matched Andrew Bolich, Jerid Roberson and Dylan Klein with two boards apiece.

The locals then from 3-point range on Friday, making just 4-of-30 from beyond the arc in a 62-50 home loss to Grant.

Gnos (14 points), Burton-Hill (11 points and four rebounds) and Curtis (10 points and three steals) each had strong performances in the losing effort, while Kreidler pulled down a team-high seven rebounds.

The Blue Devils will look to bounce back this week with matchups against Laguna Creek and Monterey Trail.