By Pete Borello

The Foothill College women’s basketball team went into last weekend’s Sacramento City College Classic with high hopes.

The Owls (8-3) returned home with their heads hung low.

“It didn’t end up to be a positive overall weekend for us,” said Foothill coach Jody Craig, whose team went 1-2. “Now we have to get our energy back.”

The Owls played with plenty of energy in last Friday’s opening round, beating an athletic West Los Angeles team 67-54. Betsy Butterick scored 25 points and Erin Grant added 16.

The Owls started to unravel the next day, though, losing to host Sacramento 71-61. Foothill trailed by three points with 1:42 to play, but wasted opportunities to pull any closer.

“It demonstrated our inexperience,” Craig said. “We had a shot at it and didn’t close it out.”

Butterick again led the Owls, tallying 21 points, with fellow St. Francis High graduate Dokesha Meacham scoring 16.

Sunday, Foothill fell 54-47 to Lassen in the third-place game.

“We just didn’t show up,” Craig said. “We had a chance to beat the No.3 team in the state - it was our game to take, and we didn’t do it.”

Gina Magagnini was the only Foothill player to score in double digits, finishing with 10.

The Owls open play in the four-day De Anza Classic on Dec. 27 with a 7 p.m. home game against Cypress (6-5).