By Mitch Stephens
MaxPreps.com
ANTIOCH, Calif. - When the final buzzer sounded, players from Carondelet (Concord) stormed the Deer Valley (Antioch) court and celebrated with as much vigor and spice as when they won the state girls basketball championship in 2004.
The puppy-young Cougars, with three sophomores and a freshman in their starting lineup, wanted desperately to end their Bay Valley Athletic League run with at least a piece of the championship and to payback a Deer Valley squad, ranked 27th in the state and No. 2 in the Bay Area, that had knocked them off three straight times over two seasons.
So, when Deer Valley’s final shot hit off the front iron and Carondelet had escaped with a 37-35 overtime win, the Cougars shrieked, embraced and did group pogo stick at midcourt.
“Wow,” said still out-of-breath senior Leah Payne, the only active holdover from the 2005 squad that included current Stanford starter Jayne Appel. “That was intense.”
Indeed the celebration correlated directly to the burn and desperation of a game that looked lost.
If not for a remarkable three-pointer under heavy duress by sophomore Ricki Radonavich with 6.2 seconds left in regulation, the game would have never reached overtime.
And if not for the leadership of Payne, who was scoreless with 1:04 left in regulation but scored eight points the rest of the way, and her 6-foot freshman sister Erica Payne (seven points, 16 rebounds, two big blocks), the Cougars would not have held off the mighty Wolverines, who got a game-high 15 points and 12 rebounds from 6-4 Kansas-bound post Ashley Ellis.
No one else scored more than five for Deer Valley in a slugfest where both teams punished each other with stifling defense. That onslaught resulted in a ragged (46 turnovers) but an intense battle that at one point early in the fourth quarter featured more turnovers than points.
No one scored in double figures for the winners, who, like Deer Valley, is 16-3 overall, 8-1 in BVAL play.
“I think most of that was just all-out defense,” said Radonvach, who had eight points to share team-high honors with Payne and 6-3 sophomore center Erin Boettcher, who fouled out with 3:33 left in regulation. “Both teams know each other so well and wanted it so bad.”
Said a somber Ellis: “Two great teams fought hard to the bitter end but there had to be a winner and loser. Sadly, we had to be the loser.”
It didn’t look that way when Deer Valley defensive stopper Shenise Cox swished two pressure-packed free throws — her only points of the night — with 20.3 seconds left in regulation to put her team up 29-26.
Coming back to the floor, Radonavich, a brilliant three-point shooter who during warm-ups buried one 25-footer after another, was stretching her arms. Everyone in the building knew the ball was going to her. The only question was would Deer Valley foul her before she got off an attempt.
Cox, who held Radonavich to four points in the first meeting, a 44-35 Deer Valley victory in Concord on Jan. 2, had once again stifled the talented sophomore all night, holding her to just five points, including eight straight misses.
Still, Carondelet coach Margaret Gartner called for a double-pick on the left block to free Radonavich, who momentarily got free. But by the time Payne got her the ball, Cox, a 5-8 senior who has already committed to New Mexico on a softball scholarship, was in her face again.
But Radonavich stepped back and launched a high-arching 23-footer that swished sending the Carondelet bench into delirium.
“(Cox) is an awesome defender,” Radonavich said. “She’s quick and strong and smart. I just had the adrenalin pumping and it went in. That by far is the biggest shot I’ve ever hit.”
Did she know it was in as soon as it left her hand?
“No, not at all,” she said. “I was just praying it would go in.”
Said Gartner: “We’ve run that play hundreds of time but it was the first time we ran it tonight. There was no doubt we were going to Ricki. She has so much confidence in her shot. We have so much confidence in her shot. Considering the situation, that took a lot of guts.”
Said Deer Valley coach Lindsay Wisely: “Give (Radonavich) all the credit. Shenise was right in her face but the girl had ice in her veins and stepped up and hit a big shot.”
Said Leah Payne: “That was unbelievable. I mean Ricki always come through but that was way out there. That was amazingly huge.”
So was Payne in overtime. With Deer Valley junior point guard Patrice Saindon fouled out, Payne took charge.
The 5-10 senior who has signed a letter of intent to play soccer at Texas matched a putback from Ellis and jumper by Deer Valley’s Cydnie Mixon with an outside jumper and two free throws, making it 33-33 with 1:53 left in overtime.
A free throw by Hilary Rosette gave Carondelet a brief lead, but a putback by Emily Allard put Deer Valley up 35-34 with 44.8 seconds left.
Leah Payne, who took just one shot in regulation, came right back down and nine seconds later drilled a fastbreak jumper, giving her team the lead for good 36-35 with 35 seconds left.
“I knew at that point I had to step up and help carry our team,” she said.
Said Gartner: “She was our only senior on the court and we said on the bench that it was time for Leah to take over the game. That’s what she did.”
Deer Valley, which committed 26 turnovers to 22 for Carondelet, missed a couple inside chances on its next possession and Erica Payne collected her final rebound before being fouled with 7.8 seconds left.
She made one free throw and Cox dribbled quickly up court but her 6-footer from the right side was swatted out of bounds by Erica Payne with 2.8 ticks left.
On the ensuing in-bound play, Allard had an open look in the lane that fell short. She appeared to get fouled but no whistle was blown and Deer Valley’s eight-game win streak was snapped.
“No excuses,” said Allard, who had 10 rebounds. “We made too many turnovers and gave up too many rebounds. We played hard but just fell short. We’ll come back though. We have a lot of big goals from here.”
Said Ellis: “The last couple possessions it was like we really didn’t believe in ourselves. We seemed to lack confidence which doesn’t make much sense.”
Luckily for the Wolverines, they don’t have much time to try to make sense of it. They play a strong Amador Valley (Pleasanton) squad as part of the Acalanes Shootout on Saturday.
“We’ll take a lot of positives from tonight,” Wisely said. “Last year we went undefeated in league and I really think it hurt us in the playoffs. This loss will sting and hopefully make us hungrier. Our goal is to get to 30 games and reach the NorCal playoffs and possibly get to the state-title game. This was a bump in a road.”
Though certainly not pretty, Wisely appreciated both teams’ efforts and she wished Gartner and the Cougars well.
Carondelet, ranked 57th in the state by MaxPreps, will eventually play in the North Coast Section Division II playoffs and Deer Valley Division I. The Cougars also move to the East Bay Athletic League next season.
“It was a heck of a way to end with them,” Wisely said. “Frankly, that one could have qualified for ESPN High School Classic. Instant Classic even.”
E-mail Mitch Stephens at mstephens@maxpreps.com.
BVAL GIRLS BASKETBALL
Carondelet 37, Deer Valley 35 (OT)
Carondelet 10 6 7 6 8 - 37
Deer Valley 10 5 4 10 6 - 35
CARONDELET (16-3, 8-1): Radonavich 3 1-2 8, E. Payne 3 1-4 7, Fitterer 1 1-2 3, L. Payne 2 4-4 8, Boettcher 3 2-4 8, Rosette 1 1-2 3. Totals 13 10-18 37.
DEER VALLEY (16-3, 8-1): Ellis 5 5-6 15, Allard 2 0-1 4, Azlin 2 1-2 5, Saindon 1 2-4 5, Cox 0 2-2 2, Mixon 2 0-0 4. Totals 12 10-15 35.
3-point goals: Radonavich, Saindon. Fouled out: Saindon, Boettcher.