El Capitan girls basketball drops 34-point loss to Woodcreek in section quarterfinal
Only two Merced County high school basketball teams are still alive in the Sac-Joaquin Section playoffs, and they’re both from Stone Ridge Christian.
The El Capitan girls were knocked out of the playoffs Thursday night with a 74-40 loss to visiting Woodcreek in the Division 2 quarterfinals in Merced.
El Capitan, the fourth seed, had defeated Woodcreek, the fifth seed, by 19 points earlier in the season. But the Gauchos got off to a slow start and never recovered. They trailed by 13 points at halftime and by 20 points going into the fourth quarter.
El Capitan finished the season 26-3 and won the Central California Conference at 10-0.
The loss leaves just the Stone Ridge Christian boys and girls with chances to win section titles.
The Stone Ridge Christian boys, seeded third in Division 5, crushed No. 14 Leroy Greene Academy of Sacramento 81-20 on Wednesday in their first-round game. The Knights (23-6) host Fortune Early College of Sacramento on Friday at 7 p.m. in the quarterfinals.
The fifth-seeded Stone Ridge Christian girls had their Division 6 quarterfinal game against No. 4 Foresthill postponed due to snow. It was originally scheduled for Thursday night at Placer High School. The game will be played Friday at 7 p.m. at Foresthill.
Here’s a look at how some other Merced County teams fared:
- The eighth-seeded Merced boys had their season come to an end Wednesday night with a first-round loss to No. 9 Tracy in a Division 2 game, 77-57. Merced got off to a rough start, scoring just nine points in the first quarter, and couldn’t recover.
- The Atwater girls’ season ended Tuesday night with a 57-40 loss to Lodi in Division 2. The Falcons trailed by just one point heading into the fourth quarter, but scored only four points the rest of the way.
Stone Ridge Christian girls soccer team plays for title
The third-seeded Stone Ridge Christian girls soccer team plays top-seeded Ripon Christian in the Division 6 section championship game Saturday at 9 a.m. at Sacramento City College. The Knights advanced to the title game with a 4-0 win over seventh-seeded Bradshaw Christian on Wednesday.
Stone Ridge Christian is 18-1-2, won the Southern League championship and features top scorers in senior Emalee Belloli (53 goals) and freshman Kaitlyn Quiralte (37). Belloli scored three goals in the semifinal win over Bradshaw Christian.
Merced County wrestlers ready for Masters meet
Merced County boys and girls wrestlers will be competing at the Sac-Joaquin Section Masters Tournament this weekend. The tournament is at Adventist Health Arena in Stockton on Friday and Saturday. The action begins Friday at 9 a.m. The semifinals are at 10:30 a.m. Saturday and the championships begin at 3 p.m.
Click on the links to see who’s representing Merced County schools:
The state championships are held in Bakersfield on Feb. 25-26.
This story was originally published February 19, 2026 at 8:41 PM.
