Friday, February 03, 2012 By Devin Moss Resting on the bench, the Rocklin varsity girls cheer on their team in league play. - Niki Sanchez Advertising Girls basket ball barely defeated by Del Oro It wasn’t until 1985-86 that the shot clock became instilled in NCAA Basketball. It wasn’t too long after that when high school followed the lead of the collegiate league. Since then, scoring has gone up immeasurably and the game has changed for the better rising in scoring and in turn, popularity. That is why it is shocker to see a game like the one the Rocklin High women’s basketball team played last Thursday , a 29-28 thriller vs. Del Oro that the Thunder ended up on the wrong side of. In a match-up of of heated rivals, the Golden Eagles came into the game 4-1 in league, while Rocklin, who has lost every league game this year by 3 points or less, came in with a record of 1-4. In the previous meeting between the two schools, Del Oro came away on top, 47-45, on a last second buzzer beater so tension was at a high.  Rocklin hoped  to shut down Del Oro’s All-Metro point guard, Brianna Ruiz, who is leading the team in scoring at 15.1 points per game, Rocklin came in with a rigid defensive plan as all-SFL player, senior, Alison Willie said, “We played and a diamond and one on their point guard and worked really hard, but they were able to make a few shots, but what we were trying to do defensively did work for the most part.” Rocklin was able to hold Del Oro to a season-low in points scored, but struggled in their own right to put the ball in the hole also recording a season-low in points scored. The one bright spot for the team was the game’s leading scorer, all-SFL player, junior, Lydia Summers who finished with 9. Willie credits the offensive struggles both to a new offense and just missing shots saying, “We tried putting in new plays for the game, but our shots weren’t falling from 3 the way we wanted them too and how they normally are.” In a closely contested game, Rocklin allowed a great opportunity to shake up the league’s standings to slip away, but the Thunder are still in well in the playoff race spotted 14th. The loss drops the Thunder to 3-3 in league and looking ahead the girls need to play well to secure their playoff spot. Overcoming a loss like last Thursday's can be mentally draining so it will be interesting to see how Rocklin bounces back against Roseville who the team handled easily in their first meeting 59-26.   Fighting for their playoff lives, the girls visit Roseville Tuesday night and host league-leading Nevada Union on Thursday..

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