The Sports Informant

By Scott Levin
Sports Informant Contributing Writer

The Division IV Girls Championship proved to be no contest, as the athletic Crusaders of Modesto Christian rolled to a 64-39 victory over the previously unbeaten Argonaut Mustangs.

Modesto Christian jumped all over the Mustangs early. Smothering defense forced Argonaut into a number of bad shots. The Crusaders led 18-3 after one quarter, a period in which they held Argonaut to 1-for-9 shooting.

The lead stretched to 25 in the second quarter, as the inside-outside combo of seniors Taryn Garza and Brandi Henton was too much for the Mustangs to handle.

Garza, the 5-foot-11-inch forward, posted 12 points, a game-high 12 rebounds (eight offensive), three steals and two blocks. Henton, who entered the game as the team’s leading scorer, tallied 23 points on 9-for-15 shooting from the floor.

The two combined on one of the game’s spectacular plays. In the fourth quarter, Garza tracked down a long pass and while in midair, dropped a touch pass to the trailing Henton, who laid it in. The basket made the score 57-21 with 5:33 to play.

“That’s stuff that you don’t coach,” Modesto Christian coach Robb Spencer said. “It’s a pleasure to have.”

Despite the large margin of victory, Spencer graded the Crusaders’ performance as “average.” His concern after the game turned to what he would do next season without seniors like Garza and Henton.

Henton offered up a possible solution.

“I’ll flunk for you,” she joked to her coach.