Led by a 30-point performance by junior guard Lainie James the Sonora Lady Raiders extended their Freeway League winning streak to five after defeating the Sunny Hills Lady Lancers 58-32.
Unlike the first matchup between the two teams earlier in the season which was dominated by Sonora from start to finish, the Lady Lancers posed more of a challenge in the latest contest between the two.
James had the hot hand for Sonora in the first quarter with eight points but was almost matched by Lady Lancers guard Jessica Barrow who scored seven points in the quarter.
Though behind from the opening minutes, the Lady Lancers (14-10, 3-5) cut Sonoras lead to two in the quarter.
The Lady Raiders (18-6, 7-1) responded in the final minute of the first with four straight unanswered points to end the quarter up 15-9.
The second quarter was much like the first, tightly contested with James and Barrow again leading their respective teams in scoring.
More than midway through the second quarter Sunny Hills guard Molly Grumbo scored five straight unanswered points to cut the Lady Raiders lead to two.
With Sunny Hills close to making the score even, Sonora went on a run of their own towards the end of the half.
A 3-pointer by James that put the Sonora up by six helped the Lady Raiders go on a 8-3 run to end the quarter and prevent the Lady Lancers from catching up.
As the third quarter took place Sunny Hills, mostly through Barrow, continued to surpass their form from their previous performance against Sonora.
Barrow, who ended the game with 23 points, continued her fine form for the Lady Lancers with 10 points in the quarter including a 3-pointer to cut the Lady Raiders lead to nine.
After their lead was cut into single digits, James and guard Meghann Henderson stepped up for the lady Raiders to restore their double digit lead.
James and Henderson, who finished the game with 16 points, powered a 7-1 run by Sonora in the last minutes of the third quarter to put the Lady Raiders up by 15.
The fourth quarter was reminiscent of the last matchup between the two teams.
From the first Sunny Hills possession in the quarter Sonora consistently applied pressure that led to many turnovers.
The Lady Raiders scored after almost every turnover they forced in the quarter.
James finished the game with 8 points in the fourth quarter, many of them off turnovers, to help the Lady Raiders secure the victory.
Sunny Hills could not get anything going their way in the final quarter.
Everyone on the court for the Lady Lancers went cold from the field due to Sonora forcing poor shot selection when they weren’t able to get the ball off a turnover.
Finally with little over a minute left in the game a free throw make by Barrow gave the Lady Lancers their first and only point of the final quarter
Sonora will seek to avenge their only league loss of the season when they host League Leaders Troy on Tuesday. Sunny Hills will look to end a two-game losing when they visit Buena Park on Tuesday.