–

It was a barnburner at Woodcreek High School on Thursday night, as the host Timberwolves and rival Roseville went down to the final buzzer.

The Timberwolves kept the Tigers at a deficit the entire game, but a layup by Cole Jacobs pulled the Tigers within one with 42.7 seconds left.

Roseville missed a shot in the final seconds, and Woodcreek held on to win 47-46 for its first Sierra Foothill League victory this season.

Roseville had 5.6 seconds to create a game-winning shot. Matsu Mori’s three-point attempt was off the mark, and Woodcreek’s Black Mob fan group flooded the floor.

“We’ve been so close how many times now? We were bound to catch a break and win one,” said junior Tyler Milani, who led all scorers with 15 points. “I knew it would turn around, so we’ll see if we can carry it into next week and see what we can do the rest of the season.”

Roseville (12-10 overall, 3-2 SFL) lost its second game in a row after starting league with a 3-0 record as part of a five-game win streak.

Woodcreek (7-15, 1-4) threw everything and the kitchen sink at 6-foot-6 Roseville senior center Andrew Schmidt, who finished with 13 points but was scoreless in the fourth quarter.

Schmidt and a somber Roseville team said they’ll put in a lot of work at practice and approach the second half of league with a vengeance. The Tigers open at Nevada Union next Friday.

Following an overtime loss to Nevada Union on Tuesday and another loss on a freak half-court shot the week before, Woodcreek finally benefitted in a close game.

The Timberwolves play host to Granite Bay (11-11, 3-2) next Friday.

JV game

Roseville 69, Woodcreek 67 — Matt Tawlks of the Tigers scored eight of his 28 points in the four-minute overtime, outdueling Woodcreek’s Jimmy Lune, who scored 23.

“It was loud and crazy, but it felt awesome to beat a rival in a game like that,” Tawlks said.

–

After a three-game losing streak to start the Delta River League, the Folsom boys’ basketball team finally joined the win column on Wednesday night.

The 68-57 final didn’t represent a game in which Folsom was up by 20 points for most of the second and third quarters and sent them to the line 40 times. The Bruins made a late push, but sent Folsom to the foul line in the double bonus for the last ninety seconds.

The first of two key games for Folsom this week – they host Jesuit (2-1 DRL, 16-4) on Friday – quickly and comfortably went the Bulldogs’ way in a visiting gym.

Defensive pressure set the tone, which carried all the way until the final buzzer. Ponderosa used its one main offensive weapon, Chris Snyder, to score 23 points from a couple feet around the basket.

Outside Snyder’s play, the Bulldogs forced 10 steals and went to the line for almost an additional 30 points on 28-of-40 free throws. The fourth quarter saw Justin Woody make all six of his free throws among 12-of-17 as a team.

Ponderosa never led. The Bulldogs established a double-digit advantage early in the second quarter and it never dropped below 10 points.

Woody had a team-high 19 points. Combined with Anthony Lee, who scored 13 points and made five-of-eight free throws in the fourth quarter, the two guards closed out a much-needed first league win.

“We need to keep up our intensity,” said Woody. “We can’t let up even a little against these top teams in our league. Even though we lost three of those four games, our chemistry is at a high level and we’re going to take it to them. I know our team is ready for Jesuit.”

All nine Folsom players scored at least four points against Ponderosa, with the exception of Zach Wolking, who was sick and did not play.

Drew Whitney and Patrick Chen each had eight points. Edwin Olympio scored all seven of his points from the free throw line and was critical in most of Folsom’s steals.

The Bruins outscored Folsom 23-18 in the final quarter, but when push came to shove, or in this case six-of-eight double penalty free throws made, the Bulldogs were calm, collected and eager to prove themselves against another top-three team in the area.

“It feels like we’re fighting as hard as we can to stay alive and to get into the playoffs,” said Folsom coach Mike Wall. “We said this was like our first playoff game. We’ll work on dealing with pressure up the line and to be patient and comfortable.”

Wall said his team most likely needs four league wins to earn a playoff berth. Folsom hosts Ponderosa once at home on Feb. 8, but will have to go through two other DRL teams.

Sheldon (3-0, 15-3), Jesuit (2-1, 16-4) and Pleasant Grove (3-0, 18-1) still make up the top-three teams in the section. Oak Ridge is No. 12 with a record of 1-2 in the DRL and 11-8 overall.

Folsom’s game against Jesuit on Friday is scheduled for 7 p.m. at Folsom High.

–

A new soccer club with a global outreach looks to combine soccer and community in its new home of Folsom and El Dorado Hills.

Ethos Soccer Club is a non-profit competitive soccer club, which for the last several months has been building a local foundation. The club itself has partnerships stretching to China, Japan, Korea and the United Kingdom, but hopes a global education to the local area.

Ethos has recently hosted a series of free soccer clinics to around 120 kids of all ages on Tuesday and Thursday nights at Sutter Middle School.

Clinics are part of what Nathan Johnson, Ethos board member and treasurer, said was a three-branch system in the club.

“We have been methodically putting the building blocks in place needed to form a completely transparent non-profit soccer club with a focus on a child’s development as a whole, not just soccer,” said Johnston.

The three-branches include the Ethos FC Saints, the competitive level program, Ethos EDU, a guidance system for scholar-athlete programs, tutoring and education, and Ethos Global, domestic and international outreach as well as charity through soccer-focused exchanges.

Fritz Libby, Ethos president, spent nearly 20 years abroad as an international school educator, administrator and school establishment specialist.

After living more than 10 years in South Korea and China, Libby hopes to bring his two worlds together by emphasizing a global connectivity. Ethos Soccer Club will be the conduit, according to its board members.

“We plan to work closely with the City of Folsom to find opportunities to get the Ethos families involved through club-organized outreach, city-organized programs and emphasize a global outreach,” said Johnston.

According to Johnston, a global outreach includes opportunities to bring teams from South Korea and China to Folsom and El Dorado Hills and to bring teams from the club overseas for tournaments.

Tryouts are still being held for the Ethos FC Saints. Clinics and camps will also reportedly increase in number throughout the year.

“The name Ethos comes from the Greek word meaning character and our focus is to develop the three C’s with the kids in our club. A superior character in each of them, a commitment to excellence in all aspects of their lives, and a desire to find and meet the needs of the community they live in,” said Johnston.

For more information visit ethossoccer.org

–

Folsom finding league play tough as expected

Like it or not, the numbers don’t lie.

If the Bulldogs are to win a Delta River League game this season, Wednesday’s game at Ponderosa is their second-best chance, other than the home game against the Bruins on Feb. 8. Like the Bulldogs, Ponderosa is 0-3 in league play and have an overall record of 8-11.

Folsom will have to play well to beat the Bruins and if they do, they hope to have a little momentum as they play host to Jesuit (2-1, 15-4) on Friday.

The team is optimistic that they will win league games in the future.

“We’ve just got to be able to finish games,” said senior guard Justin Woody. “After these three games of getting ready, I feel like we’re ready. We’re ready for the best teams in the area, because we can compete.”

The Delta River League is arguably the most competitive league in Sac-Joaquin Section.

Friday night’s matchup between the Sac-Joaquin Section’s No. 3 ranked Pleasant Grove and No. 14 ranked Folsom proved the league’s strength.

Without looking at records it would have been nearly impossible to tell Folsom (0-3 DRL, 10-10) was winless in league. The Bulldogs outscored the visitors 15-8 in the fourth quarter, forced four turnovers and kept Pleasant Grove to 3-of-13 from the field over the final eight minutes of play. A potential game-winning three-point shot by Anthony Lee was off the mark and the Bulldogs had to settle with a 58-56 loss.

Drew Whitney hit a three-pointer with less than one minute to go, pulling Folsom to its first tie score at 55-55 since beginning the game.

Down 57-55 with 15 seconds left, Lee earned a trip to the foul line, where he sank the first and missed the second. Pleasant Grove then also made one of its two free throw chances.

On the final shot, Lee’s shot took a high bounce off the rim and the clock ran out. The Bulldogs’ suffered their third-straight loss in as many games since beginning league play.

“I feel like we gave the effort to win and converted enough shots, but we just had too many small mental mistakes that all piled together and cost us the game,” said Folsom coach Mike Wall.

Folsom had two players, Whitney and Woody, score 15 points. As a team the Bulldogs outscored one of the area’s best in a fourth quarter where Pleasant Grove grabbed seven of its 15 offensive rebounds.

Lee finished with 11 points. He and Whitney hit three’s in the final two minutes to turn the game into a nail-biter. Whitney had three triples and Lee scored two.

“It was a hard loss,” said Whitney. “To fight our way back and end up that close is disappointing.”

Wall said he doesn’t think this Bulldogs team deserves to be 0-3, especially considering the league and three teams played so far – No. 1 Sheldon, No. 12 Oak Ridge and No. 3 Pleasant Grove.

Folsom was down by double-digits early against Pleasant Grove, but were competitive throughout. The team lost by double-digits to Oak Ridge in between tight games against two of the top three teams, Sheldon and Pleasant Grove.

–

After more than 31 minutes of game time, the only thing standing between the Folsom High girls’ basketball team and its first Delta River League win was a last-second put back.

Visiting Ponderosa (1-3 DRL, 6-15) trailed most of the game and by as many as 10 points in the first quarter. Offensive rebounds favored the Bruins all game, grabbing 14 in the first half and five more in the second. The game ended up being decided on one rebound, as Ponderosa’s Brooke Sinner followed a missed three-pointer and beat the buzzer to win it 52-51.

The game’s leading scorer, Folsom’s Jenny Hackelman with 16 points, countered a Ponderosa basket by streaking down court and taking back a 51-50 lead with 8.5 seconds left. Folsom had two fouls to give. Only one was committed.

“We missed that chance. We were supposed to foul,” said Folsom coach Lynn Wolking. “It’s a whole other strategy with five seconds left and three-quarters of the floor to guard.”

Two rebounders, Gabrielle Miller and Christy Bolton, were set to come back in after the second foul. Ponderosa inbounded with 6.6 seconds left and eluded the defense at midcourt to keep those rebounders sidelined.

The Bulldogs made 1-of-5 free throws in the final quarter, adding to an overall abysmal 3-of-13 from the stripe. Ponderosa made 9-of-14 free throws, but one miss here or one more made by Folsom could have taken the game to overtime.

Folsom remained winless in the league as Ponderosa grabbed its first win. Early on it looked like 4-of-6 three-point shooting in the first quarter by Folsom would lead the team to victory. The Bulldogs led 15-5 in the first and by three points at the start of the fourth.

Hackelman sank two threes in the game. Folsom’s style changed from quarter to quarter – the first was three-pointers, the third was points on steals and the fourth was all heart. Wolking said Hackelman always displays the heart she showed against Ponderosa.

“It was really hard. I know everybody gave everything they had and for [Ponderosa] to hit that last-second shot was like, “Oh my God. What just happened?” said Hackelman. “We should have had that win. We had it in our back pocket.”

Folsom freshman Danielle DaCosta was strong to the hoop and finished with eight points. Bolton also had eight. Sophomore guard Maddie Totushek had seven points.

Folsom’s next game is at St. Francis on Friday.

–

The Delta River League is arguably one of the most competitive in the Sac-Joaquin Section.

Friday night’s matchup between the Sac-Joaquin Section’s No. 3 ranked Pleasant Grove and No. 14 ranked Folsom proved the league’s strength.

Without looking at records it would have been nearly impossible to tell Folsom (0-3 DRL, 10-10) was winless in league. The Bulldogs outscored the visitors 15-8 in the fourth quarter, forced four turnovers and kept Pleasant Grove to 3-of-13 from the field over the final eight minutes of play. A potential game-winning three-point shot by Anthony Lee was off the mark and the Bulldogs had to settle with a 58-56 loss.

Drew Whitney hit a three-pointer with less than one minute to go, pulling Folsom to its first tie score at 55-55 since beginning the game.

Down 57-55 with 15 seconds left, Lee earned a trip to the foul line, where he sank the first and missed the second. Pleasant Grove then also made one of its two free throw chances.

On the final shot, Lee’s shot took a high bounce off the rim and the clock ran out. The Bulldogs’ suffered their third-straight loss in as many games since beginning league play.

“I feel like we gave the effort to win and converted enough shots, but we just had too many small mental mistakes that all piled together and cost us the game,” said Folsom coach Mike Wall.

Folsom had two players, Whitney and Justin Woody, score 15 points. As a team the Bulldogs outscored one of the area’s best in a fourth quarter where Pleasant Grove grabbed seven of its 15 offensive rebounds.

Lee finished with 11 points. He and Whitney hit three’s in the final two minutes to turn the game into a nail-biter. Whitney had three triples and Lee scored two.

“It was a hard loss,” said Whitney. “To fight our way back and end up that close is disappointing.”

Wall said he doesn’t think this Bulldogs team deserves to be 0-3, especially considering the league and three teams played so far – No. 1 Sheldon, No. 12 Oak Ridge and No. 3 Pleasant Grove.

Next week pits Folsom against the only league team not in the area’s top-20 rankings, Ponderosa, but also against No. 1 ranked Jesuit. The team is optimistic next week and future weeks will bring multiple league wins.

“We’ve just got to be able to finish games,” said Woody. “After these three games of getting ready, I feel like we’re ready. We’re ready for the best teams in the area, because we can compete.”

Folsom was down by double-digits early against Pleasant Grove, but were competitive throughout. The team lost by double-digits to Oak Ridge in between tight games against two of the top three teams, Sheldon and Pleasant Grove.

Ponderosa (0-4, 8-12) is the only other league team without a league win.

The game is slated for 7 p.m. Wednesday at Ponderosa.

Folsom’s junior varsity team defeated Pleasant Grove, 53-42. Josiah Deguara led the way with 17 points.

–

RIO LINDA — Winning on the road isn’t easy, but Oakmont High School’s boys basketball team left Rio Linda with a 50-43 victory Friday night in its first of back-to-back away games to start Capital Valley Conference play.

The Vikings (11-8, 1-0 CVC) were outscored by the Knights (10-9, 0-1) in the second and third quarters, but shining performances lifted the visitors in the fourth quarter.

Leading 29-28 going into the final period, Oakmont reduced its turnovers and hit 5 of 9 shots from the field.

Oakmont jumped ahead in the first quarter by hitting 3 of 6 three-point attempts, but the Vikings didn’t rely as heavily on long-range shooting in the tense fourth quarter. Rio Linda committed careless fouls and sent Oakmont to the free throw line, where the Vikings made 11 of 12 in the period, including 7 of 8 after going into the penalty with 4:41 to play.

Oakmont finished 15 of 16 from the line.

The Vikings committed 21 turnovers but only four in the fourth quarter. In the process, Oakmont’s help defense shut down 6-foot-5, 260-pound Rio Linda big man Langston Howard, who scored a game-high 18 points. Enrique Guzman, Rio Linda’s second-leading scorer at 13.6 points per game, fouled out in the fourth.

Dominic Marrero led Oakmont with 16 points, and Hunter Ford scored 14. Each made two three-pointers.

Oakmont coach Rick Campbell said the road win to begin league was nothing short of huge.

“Any road win is a good win, but there were way too many unforced turnovers,” Campbell said. “If you were to tell me we’d turn the ball over 20 times on the road and win, I would have said, ‘No way.’ It was ugly, but we found a way to win.”

Oakmont plays at Christian Brothers (6-11) tonight and plays host to Bella Vista (15-3) on Friday.

–

Woodcreek stops Roseville as SFL girls hoops tips off

Following a narrow loss to Roseville, Oakmont High School’s girls basketball team hoped to get back on track in its Capital Valley Conference opener Thursday night at Casa Roble.

To their dismay, though, the Vikings (10-8, 0-1 CVC) scored a season-low 28 points in a 43-28 loss to the Rams. Oakmont committed 19 turnovers and shot 9 of 17 from the foul line.

After taking a 6-1 lead, Oakmont’s scoring was lacking. Casa Roble’s 23 turnovers weren’t impressive either, but senior center Tara Prato-Morrison negated her team’s ball-handling troubles with consistent offensive rebounding and put-backs.

“You can win scoring 28 points, but we just didn’t do the basics,” Oakmont coach Al Voigt said. “We had more mental mistakes than turnovers, and we didn’t work together as a team.”

Ashley Rominger scored nine of Oakmont’s 12 points in the first half, including eight in the first quarter.

The Vikings were held to three points in the second quarter and scored fewer than 10 in each period. Oakmont pulled within 35-26 with less than four minutes to play in the game, but Casa quickly turned steals into opportunities to squash a comeback.

“We went into this game knowing we had to win it, and this is how we came out — flat,” Voigt said.

–

Make it four straight wins for the Sierra Valley Conference leading Vista del Lago boys’ basketball team.

The Eagles’ most recent win, a 59-52 take against surprise challenger Liberty Ranch (1-3 SVC, 4-13), posted not only Vista’s fourth league win (4-0, 8-11), but five in a row and eight of its last 10 since beginning the season on a 10-game losing skid. Liberty Ranch however, didn’t make this most recent streak an easy one to obtain.

Vista entered the contest having defeated Galt handily and Liberty Ranch coming off a 65-42 drought against El Dorado. After taking a 20-6 first quarter, holding the visitors to 0-of-7 from three-point and 2-of-6 from the field, Vista was outscored in both the second and third quarters.

Liberty Ranch flipped a three-point switch from its first quarter woes and hit a combined 9-of-16 in the two middle quarters. A large lead dwindled to a one-point 41-40 margin entering the fourth quarter. The Eagles lost its lead twice in the third and once in the fourth.

Vista then relied on its big man to pull his team to victory.

Tyler Jones matched a season-high 19 points, seven coming in the fourth quarter. He turned a late one-possession game into a show of dominance in the paint.

Liberty Ranch scored nine of its 12 fourth quarter points on three-pointers, making it a total 12-of-34 for most of the team’s points. It was the tale of how the game remained close, because inside against Jones, Liberty Ranch didn’t stand a chance.

“It’s not only me, it was my teammates,” said Jones. “They focused on pounding the ball inside so much more that I was able to step up and be a part of the win.”

Rebounding against a three-point shooting team can be a challenge for any big man, but Jones said he used those as opportunities to find his teammates on the perimeter. The Eagles successfully shot 6-of-11 from beyond the arc, including a perfect 4-for-4 in the first quarter.

“Someone has to step up for us to get a win and I got that chance today,” added Jones. “We’re really confident and in a good position right now. We’re going to have to step it up, though.”

Ian McLachlan scored 12 points, Patrick Lowman had 11 and both Drew McPherson and Jake Duenkel added six. Vista’s balanced scoring outdid a game-high 21 points from Liberty Ranch’s Michael Meserole, who for most of the game was the subject of Vista’s student-fan group taunting.

So far this season the Eagles have done nothing but step up since the start of league. It’s hard to imagine a team which lost 10 games before winning its first would in the matter of less than a month, be unbeaten in its league and more than half of its league opponents in the dust.

That’s exactly what coach Matt von Tillow had done.

“It was good to know we can show up without playing our best game and still win,” said von Tillow. “That was [Jones’s] best game by far. He carried us the whole game. He’ll do anything when we need it and tonight we needed him to score. But being unbeaten doesn’t matter. Our goal is to win the whole league. Being in this position, though, now we can focus on one game at a time.”

Union Mine (2-1, 13-5) will be the next SVC team to test Vista’s resolve. The game is slated for 7:30 p.m. Friday at Vista.

–

Around 20 area baseball players, old and young, took the softball field at Kemp Park on Saturday afternoon in the first organized FastballBSF demo games in Folsom.

Residents of the Folsom community joined players from high school, college and anyone interested in playing the competitive, fast-paced softball and baseball fusion style of FastballBSF. The Folsom Community team took on Team Phoenix from Elk Grove, which has played the FastballBSF style for several years.

Players warmed up before taking the field just after 11 a.m. following a brief introduction from Hector Rodriguez, owner of All American Championship Sports, and FastballBSF co-Founder Val Lewis.

“We organized our first FastballBSF league in 2003 and we’ve been playing in the area since then,” said Lewis, who himself played in the first Sacramento Little League and founded the Men’s Senior Baseball League in 1984.

Lewis said FastballBSF recently become a registered trademark with its own copyrighted rules and 501(c)3 non-profit organization status. He also said all FastballBSF tournaments will be run through Rodriguez, who knew some of the Folsom players well and others he was just meeting.

“I saw it in our weekly paper, The Folsom Telegraph and said, ‘Hey I’m going to go check it out’ because I’ve been playing baseball, but the bases are just too far away,” said Folsom resident Tim Martin, 52.

FastballBSF rules move the game along. Pitchers are allowed 10 seconds in between pitches and teams are allowed one minute to switch between innings. Games run about one hour and 15 minutes long. For long-time baseball players and fans like Martin, it’s a return to the game.

“Two years ago I had rotator cuff surgery. My wife knows I’m out here, but I’m supposed to be watching. I played in an over-50 league where we don’t see any of these young kids, but out here it gives everybody a chance. It’s fun. I think it’s great,” said Martin.

The league is split into three divisions based on ability; recreational, competitive and elite. Both team Phoenix and team Folsom Community were a mixture of the three. As far as talent goes, Lewis said team Folsom Community fit right in with the others.

Teams from Mather, Woodland, Stockton, McNair and Yuba City will join tournament play against those already established like Elk Grove and Livermore. Folsom could be the next organization of divisions to compete alongside.

“I’m just coming out to have fun,” said senior Vista del Lago baseball player Seth Sobottka. Along with Andrew Lucio and CJ Crandall, the three represented Vista players who had previous experience with Rodriguez. Each played under Rodriguez around the age of 10 with Folsom American All-Stars and some travel ball.

Rodriguez said he is working with Folsom Parks and Recreation to get FastballBSF up on its feet. Once it is, the hope is to hand it over to the city and participate in tournaments as early as Memorial Day in May.

Saturday’s games had a relaxed and fun atmosphere, which according to Team Phoenix captain Calvin Johnson, is business as usual. Johnson said he plays with the team about once a week for six to eight weeks and then enter playoff or tournament play.

In displaying the relaxed nature of FastballBSF, half of Team Phoenix was missing so they could watch the San Francisco 49ers playoff game.

“We hope that they’re having fun and that we’re an alternative to playing softball and baseball,” said Rodriguez. “We think this game satisfies that guy who still wants to play baseball, but might also have the demands of life, like a family or work.”

For those who didn’t know anything about the sport, they were in good company.

“It’s great. That’s the thing about these demo games. They either saw it in an e-mail, an article or on Facebook and came to check it out. Some aren’t even from Folsom. Those are the reasons we created the game, for those guys who are looking for a happy medium,” said Rodriguez.

For complete schedules and details regarding information on FastballBSF, visit fastballbsf.org.