NEWMAN – Winning its last two Trans-Valley League games, the Orestimba High girls basketball team was looking to knock off Escalon High’s squad in the finale for both teams.

But Escalon, which had already secured the TVL title, ended its regular season on a winning note.

The Cougars broke free from a 14-14 halftime tie and finished league play with a perfect 12-0 record in the TVL and 23-5 overall with a 31-21 win over Orestimba (4-8 in the TVL, 9-19 overall) inside the Warriors’ gym on Thursday.

The loss ended the season for Orestimba, which did not earn a CIF Sac-Joaquin Section playoff berth for only the second time since the 2014-15 season. The first was the 2020-21 season, which was played in the spring of 2021 due to the pandemic. The section did not have playoffs for all high school sports teams during that school year.

Returning to Thursday’s contest, the Cougars outscored the Warriors 13-7 in the third quarter to take a 27-21 lead.

Orestimba went scoreless in the final quarter. Escalon barely put points on the scoreboard with only four but came out with the win.

Ashlynn Bell led Orestimba in scoring 11 points. Natalie Corella followed with four points.

Kyleigh Brace, along with Warrior teammates Salece Machado and Laylahni Garcia scored two points each.

Bell had a double-double in the game, as she pulled 17 of the Warriors’ 27 rebounds. Garcia had six boards and Machado four.

Arianna Velasco and Avery Bartelink scored 13 and 11 points respectively for Escalon. Carli Jones followed with six.

Bartelink and Velasco grabbed 12 and 11 rebounds respectively for the Cougars.

Orestimba knocked off Ripon Christian, 36-33, at the Knights’ gym on Feb. 10. On Feb. 6, the Warriors defeated Hughson 41-31 inside the Huskies’ gym.

Mike Bush is a multimedia journalist who was born and raised in the Stanislaus and Merced County areas. Follow him on X/Twitter @MikeBMultimedia and Instagram @mikebushmedia.