Brea Olinda celebrates its 10th state championship following a 64-51 win over St. Francis-Sacramento.
Photo by Todd Shurtleff
Sometimes you just have to nod, shake your opponent's hand and say, "you're good."
The girls basketball team at
Brea Olinda (Brea, Calif.), a battle-tested bunch from the Southern Section, impeccably coached by one of the state's best, and led by one of the state's top all-around guards
Reili Richardson were really good Thursday. Certainly in the first half.
Reili Richardson (1), Brea Olinda
Photo by Todd Shurtleff
The Wildcats (29-4) got 26 points from Richardson, the team's only senior, 22 from sophomore
Tyiona Watkins and cruised to a 64-51 CIF State Division I championship over a very good
St. Francis (Sacramento, Calif.) squad Thursday at Sleep Train Arena.
The Trubadours (29-6) outscored the 10-time state champions 39-33 in the second half, but it wasn't nearly enough. The Wildcats also got 12 points and 12 rebounds from
Krislyn Marsh to win convincingly.
St. Francis was led by 16 points from Australian transfer
Tia Hay and 10 by
Marlee Nicolos.
"They had really good chemistry and (Richardson) is amazingly talented," Hay said. "They play really unselfish and definitely look for each other. That's really what broke us down."
Brea Olinda coach Jeff Sink, who has led the Wildcats to seven finals, winning five, said this is the "nicest" group of players he's every coached. "that makes it really fulfilling," he said. "They're so young, meltdowns occur now and then, like tonight. But they hung tough. I don't think they understand the level of accomplishment they just achieved."
Getting through the vice grip of the Division I Southern Region was tough enough. Getting to Sacramento for a weekday game against a tough opponent was tough, but paled in comparison to beating Alemany, Troy and Vista Murrieta in succession.
St. Francis, though appreciative of Brea Olinda's accomplishments, weren't sneezing over its own impressive season.
"We laid our hearts out but things just didn't go our way," St. Francis coach Vic Pitton. "We have nothing to be ashamed of. If you're an athlete and leave nothing in the tank that's all you can ask.
"We set our goals to high and came up one game short, but no one can take away our NorCal championship. More important than that the girl built bonds that will last them a lifetime."
