SACRAMENTO – Bellarmine-Jefferson’s bid for a state championship didn’t begin on Friday at 3:30 p.m. at Arco Arena. It got started in the middle of summer at 6 a.m.
The Guards won the first state title in school history with a 55-47 win over the Pinewood Panthers in the CIF Division V championship game Friday at Arco Arena. According to coach Bryan Camacho, the Guards were able to win due to the team’s commitment and selflessness.
“We asked these kids to come in at 6 a.m. to shoot around. They had to want to get better,” he said. “This championship is a credit to our kids and their support system.”
The contest featured the relentless pressure of the guards and the three-point shooting of the Panthers. While Bellarmine-Jefferson went the entire game with a fullcourt press, the Panthers kept within striking distance with six 3-point baskets on the night including three by leading scorer Lindsay Nickel.
Pinewood coach Doc Sheppler pointed to Bell-Jeff’s pressure defense as one of the keys to the game.
“That was my fault,” he said. “I didn’t think they would press the whole game like that so I didn’t adequately prepare the girls to handle the kind of defense.”
Camacho noted that putting extreme pressure on the opponent comes by design.
“We want to impose our will and dictate the tempo by making the other team waste time on the clock,” he said. “No matter who we play, we want to put as much pressure on them as possible through four quarters.”
The two teams played close through the first 15 minutes of play when Bell-Jeff went on a 9-0 run to close the half and build a 31-20 lead. Junior guard Margeaux Gupalin had the key buckets in that run, hitting a 3-point basket on the left side with a minute to play and then moving to the right side to toss in another 3-point shot with 39 seconds left.
“Those two baskets were the key to the game,” said Sheppler. “We were close and those two shots turned a five-point game into an 11-point game. It made it an uphill battle after that.”
Camacho agreed, noting that all year long a different player has come up big in crucial moments.
“There’s no question that was a pivotal point in the game,” he said. “Different kids step up at different times and we all share in the success, but Margeaux has done that all year.”
After the break, Margeaux’s cousing, Shelley Gupalin, took over. She scored nine of Bell-Jeff’s 11 points in the guarter, including a 3-point play that gave the Guards a 39-25 lead. She added two free throws and a putback to give Bell-Jeff its biggest lead at 43-27.
Pinewood was able to chip away at the Guards’ advantage and finally got it under double digits on a 25-foot 3-point shot by Lindsay Nickel. Fouled on the play, Nickel completed the four-point play with a free throw and got Pinewood within seven points at 54-47 with 34 seconds left in the game.
“She’s a special player,” said Camacho. “When she sets her feet, she can really shoot. We had to keep an eye on her throughout the game.”
The Panthers were unable to score again the rest of the game and Rishonda Napier’s free throw with 22 seconds left provided the final margin.
“We just couldn’t lose this game,” said Napier. “All of those extra shots after the game and all of those six o’clock practices. We just had to win.”
Shelley Gupalin led the Guards with 22 points while Margeaux Gupalin added 13. Nickel topped Pinewood with 16 points while Hailie Eackles added 15 and Miranda Seto scored 12.
Bellarmine-Jefferson finishes the season at 34-1 while Pinewood ends the year at 31-5.
DIVISION V Girls
Bellarmine-Jefferson Guards (33-1) vs. Pinewood Panthers (31-4)
Final Box Score:
Bell-Jeff 55, Pinewood 47
Bell-Jeff 17 14 12 12 - 55
Pinewood 11 9 12 15 - 47
BELL-JEFF (34-1): Julia Tani 0-10 3-6 3, Rishonda Napier 4-9 2-4 9, Elizabeth Hawthorne 1-8 0-0 2, Margeaux Gupilan 7-11 1-3 13, Shelley Gupilan 9-17 5-7 22, Jasmine Smith 2-2 2-4 6, Cindy Melchor 0-0 0-0 0, Sophia Chairez 0-0 0-0 0, Janelle Gabb 0-0 0-0 0, Averie-Alice Guzman 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 23-57 13-24 55.
PINEWOOD (31-5): Kelsey Morehead 1-4 0-0 2, Jenna McLoughlin 0-7 0-0 0, Hailie Eackles 5-18 6-6 15, Miranda Seto 7-17 0-0 12, Lindsay Nickel 8-20 3-3 16, Caitlin Ciardella 0-9 2-2 2, Rachel Marty 0-6 0-0 0. Totals 21-81 11-11 47.
3-point goals: Bell-Jeff 4-12 (M. Gupilan 2, Napier, S. Gupilan), Pinewood 6-28 (Nickel 3, Seto 2, Eackles). Rebounds: Bell-Jeff 36 (Hawthorne 9), Pinewood 33 (Eackles 10). Turnovers: Bell-Jeff 20, Pinewood 22.
First Quarter
Bell-Jeff gets off to a 7-2 lead capped by a fake pass followed by a layup by Margeaux Gupilan… Pinewood gets back into the game on two free throws each by Hailie Eackles and Lindsay Nickel…Miranda Seto adds a putback to tie the game at 8-8…Guards cap the first quarter with 9-3 run…Rishonda Napier scores first basket of the run and hits a 3-pointer to end the quarter…Pinewood’s only basket in the final minutes is a 3-point bucket by Seto.
Second Quarter
Pinewood climbs to within two points of the lead at 22-20 with a 9-5 run…Nickel hits a 3-point shot from the left side of the arc at the 4:03 mark and adds a field goal on a layup moments later to cut the Guards’ lead to two points…Bell-Jeff culminates the quarter with a 9-0 run…Gupilan scores on a drive through the key to make the score 25-20…Gupilan nails a 3-pointer from the left side of the court with under a minute to play and then hits a 3-pointer from the right side with 38 seconds remaining for the final points of the quarter … Nickel, Pinewood’s leading scorer with nine points, collects her third foul with 1:44 remaining. Halftime score – Bellarmine-Jefferson 31, Pinewood 20.
Third Quarter
Shelley Gupilan controls most of the third quarter for Bell-Jeff, scoring nine of the team’s 11 points…Gupalin gives the Guards a 39-25 lead at the 3:31 mark with a drive to the basket and a subsequent foul shot to complete a three-point play…Gupilan adds two free throws with 1:31 remaining to give the Guards their biggest lead at 43-27…Nickel adds to her team-high point total with a 3-pointer to start the third quarter. She has 12 points through three periods…Seto cuts Bell-Jeff’s lead to 11 points with a 3-pointer from the right side and then a steal and layup with nine seconds remaining. Bell-Jeff 43, Pinewood 32.
Fourth Quarter
Neither team was able to get much going until the final four minutes of the quarter. Pinewood scored four points in the first four minutes while Bell-Jeff had only two…Pinewood cuts Bell-Jeff lead to eight points with 2:06 remaining on a 3-point basket by Eackles…Margeaux Gupilan responds with a three-point play when she sinks a 15-footer and converts the free throw with 1:53 remaining…Sister Shelley Gupilan adds a drive to the basket to put the Guard lead up to 13, 54-41…Nickels completes a four-point play with 1:09 left. After sinking a 3-point shot from 25 feet, Nickel is fouled and scores the free throw…Eackles steals ball and goes in for a layup with 34 seconds left to cut margin to seven points, 54-47…Napier scores final point on a free throw with 22 seconds left. Final Score: Bellarmine-Jefferson 55, Pinewood 47
