SoCalHoops CIF State Tournament News

CIF NorCal Girls Regional Finals:
All The Details--(Mar. 12,  2000)

These are not, of course, all the details from the Northern Regional Finals from yesterday, but just the ones we were able to locate and write about given the limited time we had this weekend in front of the computer. . . .The Finals are next week in Sacramento.  See you there.  

Girls Northern Regionals

Scores at a glance:

Division I Girls NorCal Regional Championship

Berkeley 63, Archbishop Mitty 61--It came down to rebounding and making the clutch shots and free throws down the stretch, and that's exactly what Berkeley did en route to a 63-61 win over Mitty in the Northern California Division I girls championship game Saturday at Arco Arena. Mitty (29-3), which trailed by as many as 11 points in the second quarter, took its biggest lead at 59-54 with 2:29 remaining on back-to-back field goals by Aimee Grzyb and Rometra Craig. After a timeout by Berkeley Coach Gene Nakamura, the Yellowjackets (29-2) went on a 7-0 run for a 61-59 lead. Robin Roberson, a 6-foot junior forward, led the charge with a follow shot and four free throws. Mitty missed its last five field-goal attempts, including tough shots from inside by Kristin Iwanaga and Craig, the last attempt coming with one second remaining. Craig made only 8 of 31 field-goal attempts and committed seven turnovers. She finished with 23 points. Grzyb, who committed her fourth foul on a charge with a little more than two minutes left in the third quarter, had 20 points on 6-of-12 shooting. Mitty center Danielle Cotton, who had two points and five rebounds, fouled out with 3:54 left and back-up center Jenna Green drew her fifth foul with 2:13 remaining. Senior forward Simone Hicks played the final 5:21 with four fouls. Neither team shot well from the field. Mitty made 21 of 58 attempts (36.2 percent), Berkeley 17 of 57 (29.8 percent). The Yellowjackets converted 28 of 38 free-throw tries, and the Monarchs 19 of 23. Berkeley made only 1 of 8 three-points shots. Mitty was 0 for 11 from beyond the arc. The players who gave the Monarchs the most fits were guard Aisha Hollans, Roberson and 6-1 sophomore center Sabrina Keys. Hollans, who drew foul after foul from the Monarchs, made 12 of 17 free-throw attempts and scored 24 points. She also had 11 rebounds. Roberson had 19 points and 11 rebounds and Keys added 10 points and 14 rebounds. Berkeley, which will play Narbonne, ranked No. 1 in the nation by USA Today, next Saturday in the state title game at Arco Arena, avenged a 61-53 loss to Mitty in last year's NorCal championship game. The NorCal Division I title was the fifth for the Yellowjackets. The Monarchs had one early setback Saturday when they were hit with an administrative technical foul because Green, who was wearing jersey No. 51, was listed in the score book as No. 44. The Yellowjackets made one of two technical foul shots, giving them a 12-8 lead with 3:07 left in the first quarter. Mitty, which trailed 32-21 with 2:27 left in the first half, closed to 32-27 with a 6-0 run, and gained its first lead at 39-38 with a 10-2 spurt during the opening 2:21 of the second half. From there, the score was tied six times and the lead changed hands four times before Berkeley went up for good 61-59 on Roberson's two free throws with 1:39 to play. Berkeley (29-2) -- Hollans 6-19 12-17 24, McGlaston 0-2 2-4 2, Keys 3-13 4-4 10, Roberson 6-17 7-9 19, Hutton 1-4 2-2 5, Jenkins 1-1 0-0 2, Brown 0-0 1-2 1, Bailey 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 17-57 28-38 63. Mitty (29-3) -- Grzyb 6-12 8-8 20, Craig 8-31 7-9 23, Iwanaga 3-5 3-4 9, Hicks 2-4 0-0 4, Cotton 1-4 1-2 3, Gallagher 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 21-58 11-19 61. Berkeley  16 20 11 16--63 Mitty  11 18 20 12--61 Three-point goals -- Berkeley 1-8 (Hutton 1-1, McGlaston 0-1, Hollans 0-2, Roberson 0-4), Mitty 0-11 (Hicks 0-1, Iwanaga 0-1, Grzyb 0-2, Craig 0-7). Fouled out -- Green, Cotton. Rebounds -- Berkeley 52 (Keys 14), Mitty 39 (Hicks 9). Assists -- Berkeley 9 (McGlaston 4), Mitty 6 (Grzyb, Craig, Iwanaga, Barbeau, Hicks, Cotton 1). Total fouls -- Berkeley 14, Mitty 26.

Division II Girls NorCal Regional Championship

Amador Valley 63, Carondelet 56--Mia Fisher scored 23 points as Amador Valley of Pleasanton advanced to the state finals for the second consectuive year with a 63-56 victory over Carondelet of Concord. Fisher, a 5-10 junior point guard, was 10 of 14 from the free-throw line. Brittany Kernan, a 6-0 forward contributed 17 points and eight rebounds for Amador Valley, which will play Brea-Olinda on Friday night at 6 p.m. at Arco.In a building named Arco Arena, the Amador Valley High School girls basketball team refused to run out of gas. The Dons outlasted Carondelet 63-56 Saturday to claim their second straight California Interscholastic Federation Northern Region Division II championship. Amador Valley will play Brea-Olinda this Saturday at Arco in a rematch of last year's CIF championship game, won by Brea 54-51. Amador Valley again was led by sterling point guard Mia Fisher, but it was the spirited play of her less-heralded teammates that helped push the Dons (27-5) to their second win over the Cougars in eight days. The top-seeded Dons needed every ounce of energy to hold off No. 6 seed Carondelet (29-3). The Cougars mixed aggressive man-to-man and 1-2-2 zone defenses on Amador Valley, and Carondelet guard Aileen Germono spent most of the day shadowing Fisher, trying to make her life miserable. At times, Germono succeeded. Fisher finished with a game-high 23 points, but she scored only seven points combined in the second and third quarters, when the Cougars made a comeback after falling behind 18-8 in the first period. Fisher also committed 11 turnovers. Carondelet took its first lead (44-42) on a layup by Leigh Gregory early in the fourth quarter, and the Cougars led 46-44 with seven minutes left. But a layup by Brittany Kernan started the Dons on an 11-0 run over the next 31/2 minutes, making the score 55-46 with 3:37 left. Germono sank a 3-pointer from the top of the key to break the drought with 3:20 left, but then Fisher wove her way through three defenders in the backcourt and went coast-to-coast for a layup to make the score 57-49. Carondelet got as close as 57-52 with 2:10 left on a 3-pointer by Shannon Phalen, but Amador Valley successfully broke through the Cougars' full-court pressure down the stretch and secured the crown. Fisher scored 11 points in the fourth quarter and Kernan, who finished with 17 points and eight rebounds, added seven points in the final period. Tessa Winter contributed 10 points for the Dons, including eight in the middle quarters when Fisher was slowed down. Gregory led Carondelet with 21 points and Phalen added 10. 

Division III Girls NorCal Regional Championship

Petaluma 54, Sacred Heart Cathedral 38--Sacred Heart Cathedral's quest for a second Division III girls state basketball championship in three years came to a crashing halt Saturday at Arco Arena. The Central Coast Section champion Irish were dominated from the outset in a 54-38 loss to North Coast Section winner and No. 1 seed Petaluma (30-6) in the Northern California championship game.   Sacred Heart Cathedral (27-6), seeded second, trailed 15-2 after the first quarter and 32-14 at halftime while making only 5 of 23 field-goal attempts. The aggressive San Francisco-based Irish were whistled for 16 fouls in the half, Petaluma four. The Trojans responded with 18 points off 22 free-throw attempts. Sacred Heart, which headed into the fourth quarter down by 19 points, managed to pull within 43-33 on a three-point goal by Katie Weslow with 4:13 remaining but could draw no closer. Sacred Heart junior Toni Russell, a tenacious and quick 5-foot-3 guard, led all scorers with 23 points and had a game-high 10 steals. The Irish shot 18.3 percent (11 of 60) from the field, while Petaluma shot 30.3 percent (10 of 33). The Trojans were 32 of 45 from the line; Sacred Heart was 13 of 20. The Irish, who made 2 of 6 three-point shots in the first half, were 1 for 14 in the second half. Petaluma was 2 for 7 from beyond the arc. The Trojans overcame losing their top player, guard Renee Maxie, a 5-9 senior bound for the University of Portland who was declared academically ineligible Friday. Her replacement, 5-10 sophomore Janelle Lombardi, had 15 points, four rebounds and two steals. Senior forward Lindsay Vollmer, who led the Trojans with 17 points, set a NorCal Division III title game record by making 11 free throws. With no seniors in its starting five, Sacred Heart Cathedral should be a favorite in the Girls Private School League and the CCS Division III playoffs next season, as well as a contender for the NorCal title.

Division IV Girls NorCal Regional Championship

St. Mary's 47, Sacred Heart Prep 40--St. Mary's dashed Sacred Heart Prep's dream of a second consecutive state championship with a 49-40 win in the final of the Division IV Northern California playoffs Saturday at Delta College. The third-seeded Rams (33-4) were led by 6-foot-2 senior center Andrea Nederostek's 21 points and 15 rebounds from Audrey Philips. The Gators lost the game on the boards where they were outrebounded 47-30.  And they lost because the Rams played the type of defense normally seen by Gators opponents. The Gators were led by sophomore point guard Melissa Bayol's 18 points, but their starting center, 6-2 Courtney Laird, was held to seven points. Laird had 10 rebounds, but Sacred Heart Prep failed to establish a consistent inside game. Sacred Heart Prep generated most of its offense off of Bayol's drives and from the perimeter, where the Gators nailed five three-pointers. The Rams finished the last five minutes of the second quarter with a 9-2 run to go up 24-18 at halftime. Early in the second half, the Rams stretched their lead to 28-20, but the Gators stiffened on defense and went on a 9-1 run to tie the score 29-29 entering the final quarter. The game turned in St. Mary's favor when Dominique Banks followed her own basket with a steal and a layup to put her team up 38-35 with 3:12 left. Down the stretch, Sacred Heart Prep went cold from the field, hitting only two shots in the final four minutes. The Rams hit 7 of 11 free-throw attempts in the last minute as the Gators fouled frantically .  

Division V Girls NorCal Regional Championship

Redwood Christian 42,  Pinewood 31--Redwood Christian slew a giant Saturday, shocking defending state champion Pinewood 42-31 in the final of the Division V Northern California playoffs at Delta College. The sixth-seeded Eagles finished behind top-seeded Pinewood in the Private School Athletic League and lost to the Panthers in the Central Coast Section final, but the Eagles prevailed Saturday behind the inspired play of Leah Thornton, who led them with 22 points. Redwood (24-5) of San Leandro advanced to play Santa Fe Christian (30-5) of Solana Beach in the state tournament Saturday at Arco Arena in Sacramento at 9:30 a.m. Pinewood was led by Katy Digovich's 11 points and nine rebounds, but top scorer Sebnem Kimyacioglu, who entered the game averaging 20 points, was held to only four points on 2-of-17 shooting. Redwood trailed 24-22 after three quarters, but the Eagles took the lead for good when Thornton stole the ball at midcourt and took it in for a layup to put her team up 26-24 with 6:36 to go. Redwood stretched its lead to four when Thornton scored off a give-and-go from Angela Thompson with a little under four minutes to play. Sarah Feely's three-pointer cut the Eagles' lead to one with 2:55 to go, but the Panthers were shut out the rest of the way. Redwood stretched its lead from the foul line, hitting 6 of 6 from the line in the final minute. Redwood went into halftime leading 17-15, but Hendren thought the key to the game came in the third quarter when the Eagles expected a big run from the Panthers that never came. Pinewood's first two NorCal games were close at halftime, before the Panthers (28-2) pulled away from St. Bernard and Ripon Christian to win by double digits. Redwood outscored Pinewood 20-7 in the fourth quarter, a quarter usually dominated by the physical Panthers. Along with Thornton's big game, Allison Greenaway added eight points and seven rebounds for the Eagles. Kimyacioglu had 15 rebounds for the Panthers. 

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