NEWMAN – One more quarter was all the Orestimba High girls’ basketball team needed to record its first Trans-Valley League win of the 2025-26 season on Friday.

The Warriors had established a lead after the third quarter against Sonora High’s squad in the league opener inside the Warriors’ gym. They also led in the previous quarters.

But the visiting Wildcats came back with a loud noise in the final 8 minutes of the game to post a 47-42 win over Orestimba (0-1 in the TVL, 5-12 overall).

The Warriors entered the fourth quarter with a 30-26 lead. Then Sonora outscored Orestimba 21-12 to pull out the win.

“We were winning the whole game,” said Orestimba head coach Dwain Bell.

Orestimba trailed by two points with a minute left in the game. The Warriors got the ball back on a steal but threw the ball away for a turnover.

“They made free throws at the end to extend the lead,” Bell said. “Basketball is a 32-minute game. Not a 28-minute game. Not a 30-minute game… we learned that tonight. You can play the perfect game for 30 minutes and when you don’t close the game out, these things happen. We just have to get better at closing games out.”

This is the Warriors’ fifth loss by five points or less this season.

“I’m glad we are competing in every game and in every game, but a win would look a lot better than a loss,” Bell said.

Orestimba led 20-16 at halftime and had an 8-5 advantage after the first quarter.

Natalie Corella had 18 points for the Warriors. Ashlynn Bell followed with 14 points and Laylahni Garcia eight.

Mallory Solano had four of the Warriors’ 12 assists.

Sonora’s Isabella Ahrens led all scorers with 28 points.

Enochs 53, Orestimba 43

Orestimba outscored Enochs 22-14 in the second quarter, which led to a 28-24 lead at halftime.

But Enochs rallied in the final 16 minutes of the game, outscoring the Warriors 29-15 for the non-league win inside the Orestimba gym on Jan. 6.

Upcoming games

Orestimba continued league play on Tuesday when it welcomed Ripon High’s squad.

This Friday, Orestimba will entertain Westside rival Hilmar at 5:30 p.m. This contest is part of a doubleheader, with the Hilmar-Orestimba boys playing at 7.

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.