St. Mary's celebrates its seventh state championship.
Photo by David Steutel
coach Tom Gonsalves wasn't concerned about his team shooting three pointers in the second half of Friday's CIF Division II state championship game against
Rialto, despite going 0-for-8 from the arc in the first quarter.
"We're not good shooters," Gonsalves said, "but we're clutch shooters. They don't miss when they need to make the shot."
St. Mary's sophomore Courtney Range
scored a game-high 17 points.
Photo by Todd Shurtleff
That certainly proved to be the case for the Rams, who knocked down three three-pointers in the third period and went on to win their third straight state title with a 64-48 win over the Rialto Knights at Power Balance Pavilion. St. Mary's won their last two state championships at the Division III level before moving up to Division II this year. The Rams have won seven state crowns in their history.
"I think this has to go down as one of the greatest accomplishments in our school's history," said Gonsalves. "After all that we lost (to graduation) last year and the tough run we had through the playoffs this year, this is very rewarding."
The Rams were content to shoot from the outside in the first quarter and shot just 22 percent from the field. The shooting woes allowed Rialto to hold the lead for much of the quarter until Courtney Range scored a layup with nine seconds left to give St. Mary's the 11-10 lead.
St. Mary's began to pull away in the second quarter as its unrelenting fullcourt pressure began to wear on the Knights. Indeed the Rams forced 33 turnovers in the game and picked up 13 steals over the course of the game.
"I didn't know if they could handle that pace for all four quarters," Gonsalves said. "We play so hard that it wears teams down. We push them in practice and the kids have really bought into that."
Rialto's Brittani Walker made 8 of 10
shots and had game highs of 17 points
and nine rebounds.
Photo by David Steutel
The Knights were able to keep the game close thanks to a high shooting percentage and an edge on the boards. Rialto shot 56 percent for the game and had the rebounding edge over the Rams 34-27.
However, the key moment in the game may have come at the 3:30 mark of the second quarter when Denae Williams picked up her third foul of the game on a Onome Jemerigbe drive to the basket. The 6-foot-3 Walker sat the rest of the first half and played sparingly in the third quarter.
"Taking Denae out of the game changed the flow of the whole game," said Rialto coach Michael Anderson , Sr. "They have their bigs up on the front of the press and we just couldn't see over them and get the ball to the open player."
Williams had 10 points through the first 12 minutes of the game, with most of the shots coming after the Knights had broken the St. Mary's press and the Rialto ballhandler found Williams underneath the basket.
With Williams out of the game, the press began to wear down the Knights and the Rams also began hitting their outside shots. St. Mary's closed the first half with a 5-0 run that included a three-pointer by Regina Camera and a tip-in at the buzzer by Kendall Kenyon.
The Rams then started the second half with a 17-9 run that included three-pointers by Camera, Ali Gibson and Range. The Rams finished the third quarter with a 53-40 lead and limited the Knights to just eight points in the fourth quarter.
The Rams had four players in double figures, led by Range with 17 points, Gibson and Jemerigbe with 12 each and Kenyon with 10. Kenyon also added 10 rebounds and four steals. Brittani Walker topped the Knights with 17 points and Williams finished with 13.
St. Mary's sophomore Onome Jemerigbe
had 12 points.
Photo by Todd Shurtleff
The loss dropped Rialto to 33-4 on the season, but Anderson felt that his team made a breakthrough this year.
"Hopefully we opened some eyes in Southern California," said Anderson. "We are out east a little farther than most people like to go. We only have one kid who played club ball so we don't have girls playing year round. But we worked hard and I think we represented Southern California well."
The Rams finish the season 29-2 and moved out of a tie with Bishop Montgomery for the second most state titles in CIF history. Brea Olinda has the most with nine.
St. Mary's 64, Rialto 48
ST. MARY'S ( 29-2)
Regina Camera 3-11 0-0 8, Onome Jemerigbe 4-8 3-3 12, Kendall Kenyon 5-13 0-0 10, Ali Gibson 5-17 0-0 12, Courtney Range 7-13 2-2 17, Unique Coleman 2-5 0-0 5, Maria Lauron 0-0 0-0 0, Jessie Viss 0-0, 0-0 0, Krista Rigsbee 0-0 0-0 0, Marrissa Ocon 0-0 0-0 0, Celeste Johnson 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 26-68 5-5 64.
RIALTO (33-4)
Brittani Walker 8-10 1-1 17, Janae Sharpe 3-10 1-4 8, Montoya Washington 0-1 0-0 0, Denae Williams 5-6 3-4 13, Summers Ramsey 0-0 0-0, Trazhazia Webb 0-4 0-0 0, Bianca Brown 3-3 1-2 8, Channe Armstrong 0-1 0-0 0, Cynthia Mora 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 20-36 6-11 48.
St. Mary's 11 21 21 11 - 64
Rialto 10 17 13 8 - 48
3-point goals: SM 7-27 (Gibson 2, Camera 2, Coleman, Range, Jemerigbe), Rialto 2-8 (Sharpe, Brown).
Rebounds: St. Mary's 27 (Kenyon 10), Rialto 34 (Walker 9).
Assists: St. Mary's 9 (Camera 2, Kenyon 2, Gibson 2), Rialto 10 (Sharpe 3).
Turnovers: St. Mary's 11, Rialto 33.
DIVISION VPinewood (Los Altos Hills) 67, St. Bernard (Playa del Rey) 56For the second straight year, Pinewood saved its best for last.
Hailie Eackles goes up for two of
her game-high 31 points.
Photo by Todd Shurtleff
The Panthers, behind 31 points from superlative 5-9 guard Hailie Eackles and 21 by Miranda Seto, ran past a bigger and faster and stronger St. Bernard team.
They shot beautifully from the perimeter, making half of their 16 3-point attempts including 4 of 6 by Eackles, a University of Pacific-signee who also had a team-high nine rebounds.
They beat St. Bernard to loose balls, they forced 21 turnovers, they played fast and loose and fearlessly while claiming the school’s fifth state crown.
“I just have really, really clutch girls,” Pinewood coach Doc Scheppler said. “You watch the two teams in warm-ups and I’m thinking there’s just no way we can do this. But then they go out and play and I think how could I ever doubt them?”
Pinewood (28-5) did the same thing last year in the state finals, a 62-44 win over St. Anthony-Long Beach, which was also bigger, longer and seemingly more athletic.
St. Bernard freshman LeJahna Drummer
tied to keep her team close
with 16 points and 10 rebounds.
Photo by Todd Shurtleff
St. Bernard (24-15) got big games from its big girls, 6-2 freshman LaJana Drummer (16 points, 10 rebounds) and 6-3 UCLA-bound post Kacy Swain (13 points, 10 rebounds), which figured. Eackles is Pinewood’s tallest player.
But Pinewood did a good job bumping down low and it didn’t hurt that Swain picked up three fouls in the first half and a fourth early in the third.
“To have one of our bigs in foul trouble definitely didn’t help our cause,” St. Bernard coach Bo Corona said. “But we ran into a good team and (Eackles) was definitely outstanding.
“They say good players rise to the occasions and she rose very high today.”
Eackles was asked by Scheppler why the Panthers were able to play so well and she grinned.
“Because we’re good,” she said with a grin.
The three words were a battle cry and running joke all season to help the Panthers with their confidence.
Miranda Seto had 21 points helping
Pinewood to its fifth state title.
Photo by Todd Shurtleff
A more serious reason why the Panthers performed at such a high level is because they were drawing from a higher power.
Pinewood dedicated the season to Scheppler’s late father Earnest, who died in May after a long bout with cancer.
The players, in fact, made T-shirts this week with the inscription of “Drive for 5.” Each shirt had a heart with Earnest’s initials.
“These girls were the love of his life and watching them play helped keep him alive the last two years,” Scheppler said. “They were all there by his bedside the day he passed.”
Earnest asked the team to win a second straight title.
“We never talked about it once this year,” he said. “It was never brought up to win it for him. Not until they made those shirts.”
Scheppler openly wept after the press conference. He said he thought of his father often during the game.
Evidently his team did also.
“I’m so proud of them and how they performed today,” Scheppler said. “But I’m more proud of them as people.”
- Mitch Stephens
Pinewood 67, St. Bernard 56ST. BERNARD (24-15)Cayanne Butler 1-11 2-2 4, Kacy Swain 5-9 2-3 13, Lajahna Drummer 7-20 2-3 16, Michelle Curry 3-9 2-4 8, Angelica Laury 0-1 0-0 0, Ajai Ford 1-4 0-0 3, Dominique Burford 0-0 0-1 0, Demoria White 1-1 0-0 2, Taylor Heath 0-1 0-0 , Destini French 5-7 0-0 10. Totals 23-63 8-13 56.
PINEWOOD (28-5)Kelsey Morehead 2-3 3-4 7, Caitlin Ciadella 1-3 0-0 3, Hailie Eackles 12-23 3-8 31, Miranda Seto 4-11 10-12 21, Angelina Mapa 0-2 0-0 0, Leeana Bade 2-3 1-2 5. Totals 21-45 17-26 67.
St. Bernard 15 13 14 14 - 56
Pinewood 18 19 15 15 - 67
3-point goals: St. Bernard 2-8 (Swain, Ford), Pinewood 8-16 (Eackles 4, Seto 3, Ciardella).
Rebounds: St. Bernard 42 (Swain 10, Drummer 10), Pinewood 27 (Eackles 9).
Assists: St. Bernard 11 (Butler 4), Pinewood 6.
Turnovers: St. Bernard 21, Pinewood 13.
