River Valley senior forward Tanvi Joshi (34) drives toward the basket and puts up a shot on Monday, January 8, in the Lady Falcons’ 44-40 victory over Bella Vista.

River Valley

YUBA CITY, CA (MPG) - The River Valley Falcons girls’ basketball picked up their first two wins of the Capital Valley Conference as they beat Bella Vista 44-40 on Monday, January 8, and Roseville 40-20 on Wednesday, January 10.

River Valley contained Bella Vista junior guard Ellie Thome defensively and forced her to find other sources of offense for the Lady Broncos.

The Lady Falcons led 20-18 at the half and had great energy throughout the game. 

River Valley junior guard Gurleen Nijjar told the Dispatch that the Lady Falcons overall effort on defense was great with how they kept up the energy throughout the game.

River Valley junior guard Gurleen Nijjar (01) shoots from three in the Lady Falcons 44-40 win over Bella Vista on Monday, January 8.

Nijjar had six points in the win. The Lady Falcons defense opened the third quarter forcing multiple Bella Vista turnovers that gave River Valley fast break opportunities down the other end of the floor.

Lady Falcons senior forward Tanvi Joshi expressed to the Dispatch that they were composed in the second half and just didn’t throw up any shots that weren’t out of the ordinary. Joshi led River Valley with 13 points in the win.

Bella Vista closed the lead and tied the game within the final minute where junior forward Claudia Dudek gave River Valley the lead after a layup with 58 seconds remaining in the game.

The defense continued in the final minute and got major stops as junior forward Avneeth Gill iced the game and extended the Lady Falcons lead to four points at the free throw line with 1.6 seconds left in the game.

River Valley Head Coach Thomas Zaragoza expressed to the Dispatch that although they did a lot of right things in the win over Bella Vista, he wants to work on the minimal things they missed in the game throughout the night. 

The Lady Falcons have a rivalry game as they travel to Yuba City.

Marysville 

MARYSVILLE, CA (MPG) - The Marysville girls’ basketball team lost its first Pioneer Valley League game as they were beaten 54-41 by Colfax on Wednesday, January 10.

Marysville senior forward Taliyah Edwards (23) goes up for a layup in the Lady Indians’ 54-41 loss to Colfax on Wednesday, January 10.

Colfax left the Marysville gym with sole possession of first place in the PVL, and the Lady Indians defensive effort throughout the night gave the defending 2023 CIF Division III NorCal Champions fits at times. Colfax led by six at the end of the first.

The second quarter turned into a mini shootout competition between both squads as none of the balls wanted to drop for Marysville and all seemed to fall for Colfax as the Lady Falcons opened the quarter with a 9-1 run and led by 10 at the half.

Marysville junior guard Demi Boykin (3) gets ready to shoot a three-pointer in the Lady Indians’ 54-41 loss to Colfax on Wednesday, January 10. 

Marysville Head Coach Ike Prince told the Dispatch they lacked rebounding throughout certain moments of the game.

“A couple of the girls when the ball would go up were trying to get to outlets and get fast break points,” Prince said. “All we talked about yesterday (Tuesday, January 9) was all five girls rebounding.”

Prince added that health within the team has been noticeable as he has yet to have a game with a complete roster due to sickness/illness since the Lincoln tournament began on December 14, 2023.

Prince told the Dispatch he hopes there are a few days in the near future where he can give the girls some much needed time to get healthy and come back after as a solid group.

The lady Indians continued their strong defense as they had 19 steals during the game, and that helped Marysville close in on Colfax towards the end of the third quarter as the Lady Falcons lead dwindled to six.

Marysville senior guard Kaliyah Henry led the Lady Indians with five steals in the game, and junior guard Demi Boykin led Marysville with 14 points on the night. 

Once the fourth quarter hit, it became the stage for Colfax junior center Juliette James as she worked the paint in the fourth quarter scoring eight points and snagging multiple rebounds to eventually pull away out of reach for Marysville.

Prince expressed to the Dispatch that some of the positives throughout the night included handling the Colfax press well.

Although the shots didn’t fall as much as Marysville would have liked, Prince told the Dispatch that he is going to attempt to get his girls relaxed.

“When we miss shots, it’s because we’re rushing and not relaxed,” Prince said.

He added that he knows the open shots will come in throughout time. The Lady Indians came back a couple nights later and took care of business against Twelve Bridges 50-14 on Friday, January 12.

Marysville is on the road as they are set to tipoff at Bear River.

Marysville sophomore guard shoots from the outside on Wednesday, January 10, in the Lady Indians’ 54-41 defeat to Colfax.