Patriots beat Burbank Titans in convincing fashion – Daily Democrat

The Pioneer High School women’s basketball team improved to 2-2 this pre-season after beating the Burbank Titans 86-11.

After starting the season with a dominant win over Armijo, the Patriots lost their next two games to Yuba City in extra time and then Vintage on Saturday.

Wednesday night’s game became a longer practice for the Patriots as they had no problem running up and down the pitch against an overmatched Titans side.

“We’re looking good right now, but it’s still not clear if we’re going to be united or not,” said Pioneer head coach Sean Goldston. “We still have a long way to go to prepare for the league. We have some things to work on.”

To give a little glimpse of the night, the Patriots started the game with a crazy 19-0 run. At the end of the first quarter, the Patriots took a 24-3 lead and began to mix and match a potential line-up.

In the second quarter, last year’s Golden Empire League offensive MVP Soquel Childers showed everyone at the Pioneer gym why he more than deserves the honor.

Fresh from the all-league accolades he picked up in the fall for the volleyball team, Childers took over in the second quarter.

He started the quarter with two straight strokes followed by one assist and then stole to push the lead to 30-3. After one basket from Ava Contreras, Childers will get another separate layup. A few points later, he took his fourth basket of the game, giving the Patriots a 41-3 lead.

He would score 12 in the quarter and pick up two assists. He finished the night with 30 points, eight rebounds, four assists, and five steals.

“Soquel is the leader,” said Goldston. “He turned into more of a leader this year, taking over the government from Cady Elfin from last year. He proved it today in the pre-match. He has all the skills and all the tools to do it again. He is nice. He reads the ball well, he passes well, he steals, he dribbles, he does everything really well.”

Marissa Christian’s basket just before halftime made it 49-6. Christian, a sophomore, would finish with a team-high 14 points and 10 rebounds.

The Patriots would eventually make some substitutions and involve most of their varsity team in the game. However, at this early point in the season, those new minutes and experiences could prove crucial once the league games kick off.

“It’s great to get everyone involved,” Goldston said. “We got some extra lineups, and we have two girls from the youth team playing with us.”

Next up for the Patriots will be a tougher challenge against the Rio Americano team 4-0. Match set for Friday at 18:30

“I was looking forward to a quick and good defensive game,” Goldston said. “Hopefully, we can come out with a win, but they were better than Yuba City in the game we played and the shots were terrible.”