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Bulldogs leave no doubt, cruise to win over Pitman
Pitman v Turlock girls basketball 1
Pitman's Savannah Beattie fights for control of the ball during the game against Turlock Tuesday evening. Turlock won 60-41 (CANDY PADILLA/The Journal).

The girls varsity basketball teams of Turlock High and Pitman High came together for the third and final time in the 2022-2023 season on Tuesday night. After the first two meetings came down to the wire, the Bulldogs came out motivated to crush their crosstown rival, and that’s exactly what happened, as they blew out the Pride by a score of 60-41.

“It was that intensity we came out with,” said Turlock’s Alexis Goularte. “I think it shows on the scoreboard… It’s just the hard work we put in during the season that came into this game for me, personally. I came out ready and we came out motivated tonight.”

Goularte made her presence felt on both sides of the ball, scoring 11 points, grabbing 7 rebounds and racking up 7 steals – all while hardly having to play any minutes in the fourth quarter with the score being 45-29 after three frames.

“She’s a great leader and captain for our team,” said Turlock head coach Erica Hernandez. “It was really awesome to see that from her tonight, especially against our rival on Senior Night, so I’m just really proud of her. She did a great job.”

turlock girls bball
Alexis Goularte puts the first set of points on the scoreboard Turlock with a 3-point shot. Goularte had a total of 11 points during the game against Pitman Tuesday evening. The Bulldogs won 60-41 (CANDY PADILLA/The Journal).

While Goularte filled up the stat sheet, fellow senior Erin Azevedo led all scorers with 13 points on the night. The scoring from both girls helped the Bulldogs score their most points in the season thus far.

The Bulldogs and Pride each have one final regular season game on the schedule, with both teams returning to the court on Thursday. The Pride will take on Enochs High at home while the Bulldogs will travel to Downey High.

For the Pride, the loss drops their CCAL record to 5-4 and an overall record of 6-19, making their chances of returning to the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section playoffs virtually impossible. Meanwhile, the Bulldogs improve to 14-12 overall with a 7-2 CCAL record, clinching second place in the league standings.

“We’ll take second place and we’ll look to playoffs,” Hernandez said. “We just need to keep going, keep working.”