Posted: Jan 20, 2026
SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Freshman Hassanah Ramsey-Gilbert and senior Lexi London each scored five field goals en route to 16 points apiece, but St. Francis' second-half comeback fell short in a 63-47 loss to Folsom in the varsity nightcap of a Sierra Foothill League girls' basketball doubleheader Tuesday night.
The Troubadours slip to 8-10 for the season with a 2-4 league record. The Bulldogs improve to 13-4 overall and 4-1 in the SFL, defending their No. 6 ranking in the Sac-Joaquin Section by MaxPreps. In fact, Tuesday's contest marked the third time in a five-day span that St. Francis faced a highly ranked area team: No. 5 Oak Ridge on Friday, No. 3 Christian Brothers on Saturday, then No. 6 Folsom.
Ramsey-Gilbert hit 5 of 9 from the field, including a pair of three-pointers, while grabbing a team-best six rebounds. London also picked up five boards. Freshman Elise Vipond added nine points, also scoring two from beyond the arc. Junior Natalia Zitelli chipped in four points with four rebounds and three of the Troubies' 11 total steals. Sophomore Jocelyn Dickinson earned her first varsity start in the contest, finishing with two steals plus an assist to London late in the first period.
The Troubies and Bulldogs battled closely in the opening frame, trading the lead five times in all. Ramsey-Gilbert's three-point attempt fell into the net after bumping off the front iron, tying the score at 12-12, then London's runner boosted SF to a 14-12 lead with 2:10 left. However, Folsom quickly regained the lead: senior post Belle Marshall completed a three-point play on the next trip down to push the Bulldogs back up by a 15-14 margin. Then senior point Racquel Mauch hit a contested three to expand that lead to 18-14 by the end of the first period.
Folsom led for the remainder of the game, although St. Francis did reduce the deficit to a single possession on two occasions. After freshman Natalie Dimen hit both free throws at the 5:59 mark, London followed soon after with a lone three-point make. She collected a pass from Vipond behind the right elbow, then drained the shot to bring SF to within a 21-19 margin with 4:50 left in the first half. Unfortunately for the Troubies, Amayah Castillo answered with her own three-point bomb on the next possession, igniting a run of eight straight. Folsom led, 31-23, at the break.
Then early in the third, St. Francis went on a 10-2 run to close the gap to a single bucket. Zitelli's steal and fast break made it 34-25, and Ramsey-Gilbert made both ends of a trip to the line to reduce the gap to 34-27 at 5:31. Marshall hit 2-for-2 from the line to interrupt the Troubie run, but Ramsey-Gilbert found an open Vipond for a three-pointer at the 5:00 mark to bring the score to 36-30. When London earned a trip to the stripe at 4:38, she made the first but missed the second. That resulted in a Ramsey-Gilbert rebound—oddly, her only offensive board for the game—which then led to Vipond assisting London on a field goal with 4:30 to go.
Once again, Folsom had an answer. Freshman Jayden Hill sank a corner three almost immediately after, launching a 12-0 run that stretched the Bulldog advantage to 48-33. London finally ended SF's 4:18 scoreless streak with a steal and transition goal with 12 seconds left in the third, but Folsom even responded to that by having Marshall finish a play with :03 remaining. The Bulldogs went into the fourth up by a 50-35 margin, and maintained at least a 12-point lead the rest of the way.
Marshall finished the game with 29 points, even canning a three-pointer during the 12-0 run in the third.
The varsity loss followed a thriller in the junior varsity opener, during which St. Francis' JV Gold trailed by as much as 13 points in the third period, took a 39-38 lead with 1:33 left in the fourth, but ultimately dropped a 43-39 decision to Folsom. Junior Audrey Bashore led the younger Troubies offensively with 19 points, including a perfect 10-for-10 at the line.
The Troubadours slip to 8-10 for the season with a 2-4 league record. The Bulldogs improve to 13-4 overall and 4-1 in the SFL, defending their No. 6 ranking in the Sac-Joaquin Section by MaxPreps. In fact, Tuesday's contest marked the third time in a five-day span that St. Francis faced a highly ranked area team: No. 5 Oak Ridge on Friday, No. 3 Christian Brothers on Saturday, then No. 6 Folsom.
Ramsey-Gilbert hit 5 of 9 from the field, including a pair of three-pointers, while grabbing a team-best six rebounds. London also picked up five boards. Freshman Elise Vipond added nine points, also scoring two from beyond the arc. Junior Natalia Zitelli chipped in four points with four rebounds and three of the Troubies' 11 total steals. Sophomore Jocelyn Dickinson earned her first varsity start in the contest, finishing with two steals plus an assist to London late in the first period.
The Troubies and Bulldogs battled closely in the opening frame, trading the lead five times in all. Ramsey-Gilbert's three-point attempt fell into the net after bumping off the front iron, tying the score at 12-12, then London's runner boosted SF to a 14-12 lead with 2:10 left. However, Folsom quickly regained the lead: senior post Belle Marshall completed a three-point play on the next trip down to push the Bulldogs back up by a 15-14 margin. Then senior point Racquel Mauch hit a contested three to expand that lead to 18-14 by the end of the first period.
Folsom led for the remainder of the game, although St. Francis did reduce the deficit to a single possession on two occasions. After freshman Natalie Dimen hit both free throws at the 5:59 mark, London followed soon after with a lone three-point make. She collected a pass from Vipond behind the right elbow, then drained the shot to bring SF to within a 21-19 margin with 4:50 left in the first half. Unfortunately for the Troubies, Amayah Castillo answered with her own three-point bomb on the next possession, igniting a run of eight straight. Folsom led, 31-23, at the break.
Then early in the third, St. Francis went on a 10-2 run to close the gap to a single bucket. Zitelli's steal and fast break made it 34-25, and Ramsey-Gilbert made both ends of a trip to the line to reduce the gap to 34-27 at 5:31. Marshall hit 2-for-2 from the line to interrupt the Troubie run, but Ramsey-Gilbert found an open Vipond for a three-pointer at the 5:00 mark to bring the score to 36-30. When London earned a trip to the stripe at 4:38, she made the first but missed the second. That resulted in a Ramsey-Gilbert rebound—oddly, her only offensive board for the game—which then led to Vipond assisting London on a field goal with 4:30 to go.
Once again, Folsom had an answer. Freshman Jayden Hill sank a corner three almost immediately after, launching a 12-0 run that stretched the Bulldog advantage to 48-33. London finally ended SF's 4:18 scoreless streak with a steal and transition goal with 12 seconds left in the third, but Folsom even responded to that by having Marshall finish a play with :03 remaining. The Bulldogs went into the fourth up by a 50-35 margin, and maintained at least a 12-point lead the rest of the way.
Marshall finished the game with 29 points, even canning a three-pointer during the 12-0 run in the third.
The varsity loss followed a thriller in the junior varsity opener, during which St. Francis' JV Gold trailed by as much as 13 points in the third period, took a 39-38 lead with 1:33 left in the fourth, but ultimately dropped a 43-39 decision to Folsom. Junior Audrey Bashore led the younger Troubies offensively with 19 points, including a perfect 10-for-10 at the line.
Sophomore Saihej Sekhon added eight points, including six in the fourth-period comeback run. She converted a Peyton Smith assist to bring SF to within a 34-31 gap, later drove the lane to equalize at 37-37 with 1:58 left, then had the 39-38 go-ahead on another field goal with just 1:33 remaining. In the end, Folsom sophomore Ellie Jakubicka came up big for her team. She had the put-back attempt after a missed three to put the Dogs back up, 40-39, then immediately stole the ball at midcourt on the next Troubie possession.
The Troubies' JV Red had the night off, with Folsom not fielding a frosh-soph team this season. All three SF squads will return to action on the road at Davis on Thursday: Red at 4:30, Gold at 6:00 and varsity's finale scheduled for 7:30 p.m. All three games take place in the Blue Devils' auxiliary gym.
