Sobrato overcame 28 turnovers against Leland to improve to 3-1 in South Division play thanks to a 56-43 Thursday night.
Helena Batey continues her tear this season, scoring 22 points and pulling down 18 rebounds to lead all players in both categories.
Batey is averaging a double-double on the season with 13.2 points per game and 11.4 rebounds per game.
She flirted with a double-double in the first half with 15 points and nine boards at the break.
Batey’s consistency on the boards was a microcosm of the night for Sobrato who pulled down 49 rebounds as a collective unit. Jessica Byrum and Karla Martinez both had 10 rebounds.
Byrum had 10 points for the team’s second double-double.
Martinez just missed her own double-double with eight points. KiannaBriel Maldia nearly pulled out the feat with seven points and seven rebounds.
And Sobrato needed every bit of those performances.
Despite leading 20-9 after the first quarter, 30-20 at the half and 42-29 after three quarters, Sobrato just couldn’t deliver the knockout blow.
The Chargers had 20 points off Sobrato’s turnovers and the turnovers were a plenty.
The only thing that saves the Bulldogs was the fact Leland couldn’t hit buckets in transition.
Leland had two field goals in the first and third quarters. Leland is known as a 3-point shooting team but the Chargers didn’t get a trey until the end of the third quarter and didn’t really see the three-ball fall until the end of the fourth when the game was out of reach.
Leland’s first 3-pointer of the fourth came with the Chargers down 51-34.
And then they came in a flurry pulling Sobrato’s lead down to 10 at 53-43.
Really the only thing that didn’t make the game a 30-point rout heading into the fourth was the fact that Leland hit free throws—going 15 of 31 from the line—and was feisty in the three quarter and half court.
After Sobrato’s 20-point first quarter, the Bulldogs put up 10 and 12 over the next two quarters, respectively.
The Bulldogs flirted with a 20-point margin in the second, leading 30-12.
Leland—who had been held to three freethrows to that point—went off for eight straight points to pull to within 10 at the break.
Out of the break, Sobrato again flirted with a 20-point lead, going on an 8-0 run to start the quarter.
Sobrato eventually led 40-23 when Leland once again made a push to cut into the margin.
A quick 6-0 run put the margin back at 11 before a bucket with 20 seconds left put Sobrato up by 13 going into the final quarter.
From there, the margin never fell below 10 and Sobrato survived a late 3-pointer flurry with free throws to close out the game.
The Bulldogs next hit the road to face Pioneer 7 p.m. Tuesday.
