Vista del Lago struggled throughout its Sierra Valley League game against Liberty Ranch on Tuesday.

Turnovers, fouls and missed shots plagued the Eagles, as they couldn’t get any closer than nine points to the Hawks in a 62-43 loss that dropped their league record to 2-3.

“We didn’t show up,” said head coach Matt von Tillow. “We practiced for two days for these guys. We missed a lot of shots we should’ve made.”

The Eagles trailed 12-2 five minutes into the game. Despite outscoring the Hawks 6-5 in the closing minutes of the quarter, Vista trailed 17-8 after eight minutes of play.

Trialing by nine, the Eagles looked as if they settled down in the second, as they matched points with Liberty Ranch with 15 behind George Uribe’s four points and Ryan Larocca’s four assists in the quarter. Their decent play in the second quarter kept the deficit at nine at halftime, 32-23.

Early on in the third quarter, both teams struggled with turnovers. By the end of the third, however, the Hawks began to expand their lead, despite four points apiece from Larocca and Nick Jones. The Eagles trailed 49-31 with eight minutes to play.

“I felt like our help defense was a step too slow,” said von Tillow. “We fouled too much there in the first half.”

The Hawks had smooth sailing in the final frame, regardless of TJ Fulton’s six rebounds in the quarter.

“It was tough,” said Larocca. “They are a team we could’ve kept up with. We need work on our help defense and to finish on offense.”

Dominic Sheehan led the Eagles with eight points. Grant Lomelino finished with six.

source:  http://www.folsomtelegraph.com/article/vista-falls-hawks-62-43