Sanders Powers Oilers

The opening minutes of a first-round playoff game tend to feature a certain amount of jitters. Especially when two third-place teams are on the floor.

There were 15 turnovers in the first quarter of Thursday’s El Dorado-Huntington Beach girls’ basketball game. But the teams eventually settled down, and the outcome was decided by two of the youngest players on the court.

Sophomores Amy Sanders and Melissa Jacob provided an entertaining fourth-quarter duel, and Sanders’ Oilers eventually won, 59-53, in a Southern Section Division I-A game at El Dorado.

Sanders played with poise for the Oilers (15-13), scoring 12 of her game-high 26 points in the last nine minutes 37 seconds despite having four fouls.

Jacob countered with 19 of her 24 in the second half. She scored her team’s last seven points before a pair of Sanders free throws in the final seconds helped send the Oilers into the second round and a date with Woodbridge Saturday.

“We got to see two really good sophomores out there tonight,” said El Dorado Coach Wayne Carlson. “[Jacob] has really come along as a sophomore and matured a lot as the year went on.”