Late third quarter spurt lifts Magnolia girls

A closing flurry in the third quarter enabled the Magnolia 8th grade girls basketball team to register a 48-36 Nevada County Athletic League win over Weimar Hills Monday afternoon in Meadow Vista.

Leading the host Warriors only 27-25 with four minutes to play in the third quarter, the Rattlers closed the canto with a big spurt and then maintained their margin in the fourth quarter.

Weimar had led 7-6 after a low scoring first quarter but Magnolia caught fire behind Jenn Meylor and Breanna Gatto to take a 27-19 lead into the locker room at halftime.

However, Weimar Hills, with Iona Lofrano and Mariah Turcotte starting to find the range, outscored the Rattlers 8-0 to begin the third quarter.

After a time-out by Magnolia coach Dave Phelps, the Rattlers ship was righted and the Lake of the Pines hoop-gals were able to pull away for the key victory.

Meylor tanked 21 points to pace the winners while Gatto followed with nine for Magnolia which is now 7-2 in NCAL play.

Other key efforts for the Rattlers came via Brenna Klauer, Allie Cope and Kamron Math who all played good defense and controlled the boards.

Lofrano led Weimar Hills with 11 points and Turcotte added 10.

In Thursday’s league games, Lyman Gilmore visits Seven Hills and Union Hill hosts Pleasant Valley. Game times are 4 p.m for the 8th grade and 5:15 for the 7th grade.