SACRAMENTO — No. 3
Etiwanda made history Saturday night, winning back-to-back CIF Open Division titles with a 60-48 win over No. 1
Archbishop Mitty (San Jose).
The Eagles are the first team in the Open Division era (since 2013) to win consecutive titles. Sierra Canyon won two straight Open titles, but were separated by three years and the covid pandemic.
Last year, Etiwanda beat Mitty 69-67 on a buzzer-beating putback. Saturday, the Eagles didn't need to wait until the last minute.
"They really earned this championship today. It’s a testament to who they are," Etiwanda coach Stan Delus said. "It’s very difficult (to go back-to-back). To know that we did that and after winning the CIF (Southern Section and SoCal regional), teams that do that don’t necessarily go back and win state. I felt that once we did that, we could do this."
And to win Saturday, Etiwanda employed a special 3-2 zone defense cooked up by assistant Maria Mesa several weeks back. Delus said Mesa came to him after watching a men's college game and told him "I have a plan."
"I said I’ll follow your lead, tell me what to do," Delus said. "It was a 3-2 that had some shifts, a lot of shifts."
Etiwanda coach Stan Delus hoists the CIF Open Division trophy after his squad beat No. 1 Archbishop Mitty 60-48 on Saturday. (Photo: David Steutel)
The plan then became to save it for the CIF title game.
"We were going to use it a couple of games again and she said ‘Nope, we’re going to save it for this game,' " Delus said. "With their length and our length and our ability to fly around, it was a defense that if we could’ve saved it, then it would be tough to make an adjustment to make in one day."
Coach Stan Delus' squad came out from the tip fired up on offense, relentless on defense and smothered the No. 1 team in the MaxPreps Top 25, doubling up the Monarchs 32-16 by halftime.
Etiwanda opened a 7-2 lead early with everything going right, including
Puff Morris' pass from 3-point territory that missed the mark but found the basket.
Puff Morris led the way Saturday for No. 3 Etiwanda with a game-high 20 points in the Eagles' 60-48 win over No. 1 Archbishop Mitty in the CIF Open Division finals. (Photo: David Steutel)
The Monarchs kept the score close, trailing 16-10 after the first quarter, but the Eagles outscored Mitty 16-6 in the second quarter.
Etiwanda forced eight first-half turnovers, turning them into 12 points. The Eagles also bullied their way to 24 points in the paint in the opening half.
"We are not into moral victories," said Mitty coach Sue Phillips in a matter-of-fact manner. "I’m not going to pretend we were happy with the way we played in the first half. It was incredibly disappointing for all of us. We’re all responsible for that."
Mitty couldn't get its offense rolling, shooting 4 of 17 in the first period and 2 of 12 in the second quarter.
Mitty tried to climb out of the halftime hole with a 12-0 run straddling the end of the third and start of the fourth. The Monarchs cut the lead to 12 points, 50-39 three minutes into the fourth, but baskets by
Kennedy Smith and
Grace Knox effectively ended any comeback attempt.
"We showed glimpses of the team we could be in the third and fourth quarter and then we had six turnovers in eight possessions," Phillips said. "With 19 turnovers you can’t beat a team like Etiwanda."
The victory throws the race for the MaxPreps National Champion into flux as the top three teams in the MaxPreps Top 25 have a carousel if wins against one another.
Mitty beat No. 2 Long Island Lutheran 77-76 at the Nike TOC in December, while LuHi beat the Eagles 82-62 less than a month later.
Etiwanda's Kennedy Smith battles Archbishop Mitty's McKenna Woliczko on Saturday in the CIF Open Division finals. Etiwanda won its second straight state title with a 60-48 victory over Mitty on Saturday. (Photo: David Steutel)
No. 3 Etiwanda defeated No. 1 Archbishop Mitty 60-48 Saturday at Golden 1 Center. (Photo: David Steutel)
