Lady Golden Eagles surrender lead, fall in first round of Thanksgiving Classic

Former Lemoore High School star Kiesha Loftin scored six points in Friday night's loss to San Mateo.

Photo by Bill Burris, Lemooresports.com

The Golden Eagles were forced into the consolation bracket where they played Merced College on Saturday and lost a thrilling 45-44 decision, a loss that forced them from the tourney.

Also on Saturday, in the late game, San Mateo felt the brunt of a powerful Orange Coast College squad, falling 100-44. Orange Coast will play in the championship game on Sunday.

West Hills Golden Eagle Basketball Schedule

The tournament championship game will be held on Sunday at 3 p.m. in the Golden Eagle Arena. The tourney is being played at two venues this year with College of the Sequoias, Yuba College, Cuesta and Feather River Community College playing at COS.

In their opener on Friday, the Golden Eagles got an impressive performance from guard Taylor Vasquez, who finished with 19 points, including a pair of three pointers in the first quarter that kept her team close.

The Eagles outscored the Bulldogs 18-9 in the second quarter to take an impressive 32-25 advantage into the half. West Hill’s Tiffany Smith fueled the comeback with seven second-period points, including a three-pointer in the waning seconds of the first half.

The Lady Eagles fell flat in the second half, scoring just 19 points as San Mateo cut the deficit to 44-41 at the end of the third period. Fueled by Mariah Elzy’s six fourth-quarter points and a pair of field goals from Corryn Millett, the Bulldogs took the lead early in the final period.

The Golden Eagles managed to keep it close, in fact tying the game at 51 apiece on a Michelle Brown bucket with 3:30 left in the game.

However, with just 8.6 seconds left on the clock San Mateo’s Elzy tossed in the game winner.