Sacred Heart Prep Falls in Nor Cal Girls' Hoops Semifinals
St. Joseph Notre Dame 69, Sacred Heart Prep 59
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After coming up short in the North Coast Section Division IV championship game, the Pilots got back to their blowout ways in the Northern California playoffs.
And when they jumped out to a quick 7-0 lead over Sacred Heart Prep in the Division IV semifinals Tuesday night, it appeared the Gators were on their way to becoming St. Joseph’s latest victim.
The Gators had other ideas. They righted the ship in the second quarter, taking a 36-35 lead at halftime. But the second-seeded Pilots regained their advantage in the second half and pulled away in the fourth quarter to hold off the sixth-seeded Gators, 69-59.
“We had opportunities,” SHP coach Melanie Murphy said. “I liked the way our team rallied.”
St. Joe’s (29-5) quickly regained the lead to start the second half and went on to put up 21 third-quarter points to lead 56-44 going into the final eight minutes.
Much like they did in the second quarter, the Gators rallied in the fourth. Using a 6-0 run, SHP (16-14) turned a 10-point deficit into four points with 1:52 to play following a Charlotte Levison layup off the dribble. It was a three-point game, 61-59, following a 3-pointer from SHP’s Grace Battles with 1:35 left.
But the Pilots would ice the game at the line, going 8 for 10 over the final 1:18.
“It just took us a while to adjust to their adjustments,” Murphy said.
Using a tenacious full-court press, St. Joe’s flustered SHP early: jumping passing lanes and forcing the Gators into some sloppy play.
“Lots of turnovers (in the first quarter). Every pass was being deflected,” Murphy said. “That kind of frustrated us early.”
Offensively, the Pilots were besting the Gators with consistent penetration. SHP had a hard time staying in front of St. Joe point guard Zhane Duckett, who was adept at getting to the rim and either finishing or kicking out to a teammate for a wide open look. After getting a quick 7 to open the game, the Pilots used a 14-3 run over the final four minutes of the period to lead 23-11 after one period.
“Our goal was to try and contain their drives,” Murphy said.
Duckett would score a game-high 23 points, 16 of which came in the second half.
The Gators finally figured out how to slow down the Pilots in the second quarter. Down 12, 28-16, following a tough flip shot by St. Joe’s Malia Mastora, Murphy put Denise Stine on Duckett and it changed the complexion of the game. The Gators went to their press and Stine promptly picked Duckett’s pocket, igniting a 15-0 run for the Gators.
“We were pleasantly surprised with how well our press worked in the second quarter,” Murphy said. “[Stine] has unique speed. She did a really good job.”
Zoe Zaharias knocked down a 3 to get the run started and Stine followed with a layup off the bounce. Lagi Pakola knocked down a pair of free throws, Stine hit 1 of 2 and Battles scored off a layup to tie the game. A coast-to-coast layup by Levison gave SHP its first lead of the game, 30-28.
After St. Joe’s finally scored on a put-back to stop the run, Levison hit a pull-up jumper for a 32-30, which was followed by back-to-back lay-ups from Tatum Angotti and SHP led 36-31 with 1:05 left in the first half.
How effective were the Gators in the second quarter? They forced the Pilots out of their 2-2-1 press and into a zone defense over the final couple minutes of the half.
St. Joe’s took back a little of the momentum by scoring the final four points of the second period to trail by just a point, 36-35. The Pilots carried that momentum into the second half, getting a 3 from Mastora and a coast-to-coast layup from Duckett to take a 40-36 lead, but the bigger difference was the defense the Pilots put on the Gators in general, and Levison in particular. Levison was starting to take over the game in the second quarter, when she scored nine of her team-high 22 points.
In the third quarter, the Pilots went to a box-and-1 defense, one in which four defenders play a zone with the fifth man marking the opponent. In this case, their focus was on Levison and it worked as she had only two points in the third.
“We just took too long to adjust,” Murphy said.
The Pilots would go on to outscore the Gators 21-8 in the third quarter to lead 56-44 going into the fourth and forcing the Gators into a long, uphill battle the rest of the way. Battles would go on to finish with 13 points for SHP, including three 3-pointers in the second half. Angotti finished with 10 points for the Gators.
In addition to Duckett, St. Joseph got 16 points from Mastora and 13 from Sophie Nillson.
“We had to take what the defense gave us,” Murphy said. “We just didn’t take enough tonight.”
Back
ALAMEDA — The St. Joseph Notre Dame girls’ basketball team in Alameda hasn’t been in a lot of close games this season, running roughshod through the Bay Counties-East schedule to the tune of a 12-0 record.
After coming up short in the North Coast Section Division IV championship game, the Pilots got back to their blowout ways in the Northern California playoffs.
And when they jumped out to a quick 7-0 lead over Sacred Heart Prep in the Division IV semifinals Tuesday night, it appeared the Gators were on their way to becoming St. Joseph’s latest victim.
The Gators had other ideas. They righted the ship in the second quarter, taking a 36-35 lead at halftime. But the second-seeded Pilots regained their advantage in the second half and pulled away in the fourth quarter to hold off the sixth-seeded Gators, 69-59.
“We had opportunities,” SHP coach Melanie Murphy said. “I liked the way our team rallied.”
St. Joe’s (29-5) quickly regained the lead to start the second half and went on to put up 21 third-quarter points to lead 56-44 going into the final eight minutes.
Much like they did in the second quarter, the Gators rallied in the fourth. Using a 6-0 run, SHP (16-14) turned a 10-point deficit into four points with 1:52 to play following a Charlotte Levison layup off the dribble. It was a three-point game, 61-59, following a 3-pointer from SHP’s Grace Battles with 1:35 left.
But the Pilots would ice the game at the line, going 8 for 10 over the final 1:18.
“It just took us a while to adjust to their adjustments,” Murphy said.
Using a tenacious full-court press, St. Joe’s flustered SHP early: jumping passing lanes and forcing the Gators into some sloppy play.
“Lots of turnovers (in the first quarter). Every pass was being deflected,” Murphy said. “That kind of frustrated us early.”
Offensively, the Pilots were besting the Gators with consistent penetration. SHP had a hard time staying in front of St. Joe point guard Zhane Duckett, who was adept at getting to the rim and either finishing or kicking out to a teammate for a wide open look. After getting a quick 7 to open the game, the Pilots used a 14-3 run over the final four minutes of the period to lead 23-11 after one period.
“Our goal was to try and contain their drives,” Murphy said.
Duckett would score a game-high 23 points, 16 of which came in the second half.
The Gators finally figured out how to slow down the Pilots in the second quarter. Down 12, 28-16, following a tough flip shot by St. Joe’s Malia Mastora, Murphy put Denise Stine on Duckett and it changed the complexion of the game. The Gators went to their press and Stine promptly picked Duckett’s pocket, igniting a 15-0 run for the Gators.
“We were pleasantly surprised with how well our press worked in the second quarter,” Murphy said. “[Stine] has unique speed. She did a really good job.”
Zoe Zaharias knocked down a 3 to get the run started and Stine followed with a layup off the bounce. Lagi Pakola knocked down a pair of free throws, Stine hit 1 of 2 and Battles scored off a layup to tie the game. A coast-to-coast layup by Levison gave SHP its first lead of the game, 30-28.
After St. Joe’s finally scored on a put-back to stop the run, Levison hit a pull-up jumper for a 32-30, which was followed by back-to-back lay-ups from Tatum Angotti and SHP led 36-31 with 1:05 left in the first half.
How effective were the Gators in the second quarter? They forced the Pilots out of their 2-2-1 press and into a zone defense over the final couple minutes of the half.
St. Joe’s took back a little of the momentum by scoring the final four points of the second period to trail by just a point, 36-35. The Pilots carried that momentum into the second half, getting a 3 from Mastora and a coast-to-coast layup from Duckett to take a 40-36 lead, but the bigger difference was the defense the Pilots put on the Gators in general, and Levison in particular. Levison was starting to take over the game in the second quarter, when she scored nine of her team-high 22 points.
In the third quarter, the Pilots went to a box-and-1 defense, one in which four defenders play a zone with the fifth man marking the opponent. In this case, their focus was on Levison and it worked as she had only two points in the third.
“We just took too long to adjust,” Murphy said.
The Pilots would go on to outscore the Gators 21-8 in the third quarter to lead 56-44 going into the fourth and forcing the Gators into a long, uphill battle the rest of the way. Battles would go on to finish with 13 points for SHP, including three 3-pointers in the second half. Angotti finished with 10 points for the Gators.
In addition to Duckett, St. Joseph got 16 points from Mastora and 13 from Sophie Nillson.
“We had to take what the defense gave us,” Murphy said. “We just didn’t take enough tonight.”
Sacred Heart Schools Atherton
Founded by the Society of the Sacred Heart, SHS is a Catholic, independent, co-ed day school for students in preschool through grade 12
