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Pride bests Modesto to remain atop CCAL
Pitman girls basketball 1
Pitman High’s Natalie Urena goes inside the paint for an easy bucket during Thursday’s 82-27 win over Modesto High (CANDY PADILLA/The Journal).

It was a very good week for Pitman Pride varsity girls basketball, especially after they secured their 20th win of the year on Thursday night. 

First, Pitman avenged their lone league loss to Gregori High and beat them handedly on Tuesday night, 59-33, and then they followed that up by dominating Modesto High on Thursday night after scoring the most points they have in a single game this season in an 82-27 final. 

“Twenty wins was one of our goals,” said Pitman head coach Dustin Curtiss. “Tonight, we came out and I thought we shot the ball really well and I thought our intensity was where it needed to be, and our defensive effort was where it needed to be and we played really from start to finish.” 

They started off on fire and never took the foot off the pedal. 

Pitman girls basketball 2
Abbie DiGrazia (13) of Pitman High scored 10 points in Thursday’s 82-27 win over Modesto High (CANDY PADILLA/The Journal).

Pitman scored the first six points before they allowed three and then went on a 23-1 run to take a 29-4 lead heading into the second. 

With the help of an array of players, Pitman built a 50-13 lead by halftime. 

By the half, Pitman had made nine shots from behind the arc. They finished with 13 three-pointers. 

Pitman outscored Modesto in the second half, 32-14, as the Pride clinched their sixth straight win of the year. 

“That win over Gregori a couple nights ago was big for us, they were atop the league so that was big. We still have two more,” said Curtiss. “We have to go to Downey High on Monday and that will be tough then we have Turlock High on Wednesday here at home and that is going to be tough as well, so we have to finish these last two strong.” 

Following the win, Pitman’s overall record improves to 20-6 while they are 7-1 in the Central California Athletic League. 

Jessica Smith finished with a game-high 19 points while Sydney Smith added 11 points. Abbie DiGrazia had 10 points and Malaikah Kashif added eight points. Aleyah Higa scored nine points.  

Pitman will next travel to Downey High to take on the Knights on the road in their penultimate game of the regular season at 7:15 p.m. Monday. 

Pitman defeated Downey High in their first meeting back on Jan. 23, in a 67-24 win. 

“We've been shooting the ball pretty well lately,” Curtiss added. “We played Downey here last time and we got them pretty good, but we played really well that night, so if you don’t play well and they do on the road, it is going to be a contest. So, we have to prepare for it like it is the most important game of the season and we will do that.”