SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Timely defense and an unlikely shooting hero helped propel
Carondelet (Concord) to its second state title with a 51-48 win Friday over
Sage Hill (Newport Beach) in the California Division I championship at Golden 1 Center.
Amalia Holguin, the last of Kobe Bryant's Mamba girls, had a huge night for Sage Hill with a game-high 21 points. But Carondelet sophomore
Celeste Alvarez hit one of the biggest shots in school history with time winding down in the fourth quarter.
After Holguin hit a NBA-range 3-pointer to pull the Lightning within one at 44-43 with two minutes left in the game, Alvarez found herself out of the wing and drained a trey of her own to answer for the Cougars. She held the follow through as Carondelet built is lead back to 47-43.
Carondelet coach Keppy Sopak celebrates his team's California Division I girls title on Friday after beating Sage Hill 51-48. It was the second state title for the Bay Area school. (PHOTO: David Steutel)
"We do this drill called Shape Shooting and we have to hold our follow through and I don't really get to shoot threes in games," Alvarez said with a shrug.
The Lightning (23-12) had an answer to Alvarez's big shot with another Holguin triple, again from NBA range, and a
Kamdyn Klamberg bucket off a Holguin dime with the clock winding under a minute.
But Carondelet hit four free throws down the stretch to hold off Sage Hill for the title.
"That's been our story in our playoff run, we gave up some runs and
every time we gave up a big shot that we were able to come back in
transition and get an open 3," Carondelet coach Kelly Sopak said. "We're trying to get a shot in the first 10
seconds of the shot clock that's a good one and if not we're going to
run our offense. It was phenomenal to be able to answer that (Holguin's 3-pointer)."
"She's (Alvarez) really had to step up her game for us (in the playoffs) and it was really great to see her have her moment in the sun," Sopak said.
Holguin led all scorers and Klamberg added 13, but Carondelet got offensive production up and down its lineup with nine players scoring and 17 of the 51 points from off the bench.
Meanwhile, Sage Hill had what head coach Kerwin Walters said was an uncharacteristically bad night from the free throw line shooting 28 percent (4 of 14).
"It's abnormal for us. We usually shoot in the low 70s," Walters said. "But we don't make
excuses for what we've, we grow up and figure out how to be better next
time."
Amalia Holguin, the last of Kobe Bryant's proteges on the Mamba girls AAU team, had a game-high 21 points in Sage Hill's 51-48 loss to Carondelet on Friday in the California Division I final at Golden 1 Center. (PHOTO: David Steutel)
Holguin said the lessons from Bryant stick with her and will be a guiding force moving into her senior season.
"Every day is a lesson and you can find something to improve on," she said of the memory of Bryant's mentoring. "He's never sulking and always looking at the future."
On the other side of the score sheet, Alvarez sat in the post-game press conference and started to tear up when Sopak mentioned this team would be remembered forever at the school when people enter the gym and see the banner hanging on the wall.
"I had tears in my eyes, but I knew I was on video, so I was 'Keep it together, Celeste,'" Alvarez said. "Carondelet is a huge basketball schools with names like Jayne Appel and Ali Bamberger and to be put up there with them and have that (banner) in a placer in the school where we put in all that work means everything to me.
"When he said that, that's when it hit me. The banner and the building."
Carondelet sophomore Celeste Alvarez hit a big 3-pointer late in the fourth quarter and finished with a team high 11 points in the Cougars' win over Sage Hill. She added 14 rebounds and five blocks. (PHOTO: David Steutel)
