ELK GROVE, CA (MPG) - Northgate High School traveled from Walnut Creek to Elk Grove to play the Elk Grove Thundering Herd basketball team on Saturday Jan. 3.

Going into this game the Thundering Herd was 7-6 coming off a 61-53 victory against Vacaville High School on Dec. 30. Elk Grove was looking to continue its momentum going into league play after this game with a two-game winning streak.                             

Northgate came into this game with an even 5-5 record. The Broncos’ last game was a double-overtime 77-73 victory against American High School. They also were looking to start a small win streak before going into league play.     

 

Junior Josiah Anderson drives to the hoop to pass to an open teammate. 

Northgate was able to jump to a quick 5-0 lead when the game started. Elk Grove was able to fight back and started to cut into that small lead.                            

But Northgate was able to put constant pressure on Elk Grove throughout the first quarter and was able to keep the five-point lead going into the second quarter.          

However, this was where Elk Grove was able to swing the momentum in its direction. The Herd had made an emphasis to attack the basket while aiming to find the open man with an extra pass if needed on offense, while continuing to contest shots to force misses on defense.                           

 

Junior Josiah Anderson catches the ball from an inbound pass. 

The Thundering Herd was able to grab a three-point lead going into halftime, successfully gaining the momentum of the game and forcing Northgate to make changes now that it was down.                        

Coming out of halftime, Elk Grove continued to apply pressure as it did in the second quarter. The Herd continued to hit shots and play great defense, eventually taking a double-digit lead halfway through the third quarter.                              

Northgate was able to stop Elk Grove’s momentum during the second half of the third quarter, even cutting the lead to just two points. But the Thundering Herd was able to keep the momentum from fully being controlled by Northgate throughout the fourth quarter.                 

The Thundering Herd was able to persevere, keeping the lead for the whole second half and ultimately winning the game 64-60. That win pushed Elk Grove to 8-6 on season before heading into league play.

 

Junior Josiah Anderson drives to the hoop to pass to an open teammate. 

Now each team in the Delta League will play the others twice for the remainder of the season, which will be 12 games. The top four teams of the league will earn a spot in the Section Championship Playoffs based on the division of the school.