MORAGA, Calif. — The message from
Milan Moses and the other five seniors on the
Dublin girls basketball team was simple.
"Get it done," Moses said.
And Moses, a feisty and determined 5-foot-4 point guard, made sure the Gaels did so in shocking fashion.
Moses scored a team-high 17 points, made a key three-point play down the stretch, then made a steal in the final seconds to cement Dublin's shocking 57-55 North Coast Section Division II victory over nationally ranked
Carondelet (Concord) at St. Mary's College.
Carondelet, No. 21 in the
MaxPreps national computer rankings, had won three straight NCS titles, six in seven years and 10 since 2003. Dublin had one but one NCS crown, way back in 1988.
Not only did this appear a mismatch from historic proportions, but Carondelet defeated Dublin 92-44 in last year's NCS playoffs.
All of it contributed to Dublin's furor and perhaps Carondelet's complacency.
Tiaja Andrews added 13 points for Dublin (26-3) to help offset a mammoth 24-point game from Carondelet senior
Katherine Rathbun, who made six three-pointers but went scoreless in the fourth quarter.
"I think we came in overconfident," said Carondelet first-year head coach Elgin Lesilie. "We were too relaxed and by the time they got our attention, it was too late."
Actually, this one simply looked evenly-matched from the get go. And the two teams went back and forth like few any have seen in NCS history.
There were 10 ties and 16 lead changes and, remarkably, no margin larger than four points for either team.
The last tie was 50-50 after a layup from Dublin's
Lesila Finau with 3:07 left. That started a 6-0 run that included a Moses fastbreak layup and jumper by
Jojuan Carrington, making it 54-50.
But
Vanessa Cruz (12 points) followed with a driving layup and Kimberly Savio (10 points) added a free throw, cutting the lead to 54-53 with 52.4 seconds left.
Then Moses asked for the ball. Check that, she demanded it. She didn't get it at first, but eventually did and drove past strong defense to spin in a layup while being fouled. She completed the three-point play to give Dublin a 57-53 lead with 27.9 seconds left.
"I was getting frustrated because I wanted it," Moses said. "I'm really glad she gave me the ball."
After a jumper by
Maaeva Dwigginss made it 57-55, Moses was fouled with a chance to put it away and 6.8 seconds left. She missed, however, and Carondelet raced down court for a potential game-tying or winning shot. Instead Moses stole the ball, setting off a wild celebration.
"We had a lot of seniors going off to college who didn't want to lose this game," Moses said.
Carondelet (26-3) seemed like a lock to play in the Open Division at NorCals, but now that seems in question. It would be odd to take Carondelet and not champion Dublin, which does not qualify for the Open.
"We've been playing at a very high level for the last 11 games," Leslie said. "We were due for an off night. We just picked a bad night for it to happen."
