Basketball Recap: Encina Takes Loss Despite Strong Performances from Khaliah Mcdonald and Elise Brandon

Encina was not able to break out of their rough patch on Friday as the team picked up their sixth straight loss. They took a 43-28 bruising from the Foresthill Wildfires. The result was an unpleasant reminder to the Bulldogs of the 60-34 defeat they experienced in the pair's previous head-to-head fixture back in January of 2024.

Elise Brandon and Khaliah McDonald certainly did their best on Friday to avoid the loss. Brandon dropped a double-double on 15 points and 11 boards, while McDonald posted six points in addition to 13 rebounds and four steals. That was a full 53.6% of Encina's points, marking the 12th time in a row she's put up more than a third of the team's points. The team also got some help courtesy of Zola Wilson, who earned four points and four steals.

Bulldogs

Previous 6 Games

01/17/25 @ Foresthill	28-43
01/10/25 @ Forest Lake Christian	32-61
01/07/25 @ Sacramento Waldorf	29-59
01/06/25 @ Oakmont	19-46
01/03/25 vs Futures	25-27
12/20/24 vs John Adams Academy Rsvl/Lin	28-43

Even though they lost, Encina smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 28 offensive boards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least 16 offensive rebounds in 12 consecutive matches.

Amy Saxelby went supernova for Foresthill, dropping a double-double on 21 points and 13 rebounds. Saxelby is on a roll when it comes to boards, as she's now pulled down nine or more in the last three games she's played. Another player making a difference was Maddy Marquez, who had seven points along with eight rebounds and three steals.

Encina's loss dropped their record down to 4-8. As for Foresthill, they have been performing well recently as they've won three of their last four contests, which provided a nice bump to their 11-6 record this season.

Encina has already played their next game (against Victory Christian), but no score has been uploaded at the time of writing. Foresthill will host Futures at 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday. Foresthill's defense has only allowed 27.4 points per game this season, so Futures' offense will have their work cut out for them.