SACRAMENTO — Whitney (Cerritos) opened the California girls Division IV championship with a 10-0 burst and never trailed in a 48-40 win over
Half Moon Bay on Saturday at Golden 1 Center.
Allie Yamaguchi started the scoring on Day 2 of the state finals with a right-wing 3-pointer,
Haylie Wang added a low-post bucket and
Alyssa So dropped two straight field goals as the Wildcats put Half Moon Bay in a 10-0 hole three minutes in.
"Half Moon Bay is a good team, they're actually bigger than us," Whitney coach Myron Jacobs said. "As you
see, we're not the biggest team, but we play with a lot of heart. We
play fast, we play disciplined and I think that the message to they was
'Hey, we get up, we gotta hold the lead.' We're not built to exchange
baskets. We're more of a defensive team.
Whitney coach Myron Jacobs hold up the California girls Division IV trophy after the Wildcats beat Half Moon Bay 48-40 on Saturday at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento. Whitney jumped out to a 10-point lead to start the game and led wire-to-wire. (PHOTO: David Steutel)
The Wildcats held leads of 16-9 after one period and 29-22 at half, but every Half Moon Bay (23-8) run was met with either a big defensive rebound, a clutch Whitney (29-9) bucket or a miss from the Cougars.
Zoey Lemoge, who had a game-high 18 points and 18 rebounds, missed the free throw when it looked as she would complete and and-one near the end of the half that cut the Whitney lead to 26-22. But Wang attacked on the ensuing possession with her own old-fashioned three-point play and the Wildcats hit the locker room up seven.
Near the start of the third with the shot clock at 0.2, Wang tossed up a desperation 3-pointer than banked in for a 34-26 lead.
"They made some tough shots," said first-year Half Moon Bay coach Megan Smith. "I'd be remiss if I didn't bring up the banked in
3s against us this season, we've had a run of those this season. Some of
those possessions just break your back in a sense."
Still, Half Moon Bay was able to trim the lead to 43-40 in a low-scoring fourth quarter when Lemoge again was fouled on a bucket in the paint. She hit the free throw only to have Whitney come back and score the final eight points on three free throws by So and a scoop layup for Wang.
"Our strength is shooting. Our strength is speed and defense," Jacobs said.
Wang finished with 17 points for Whitney while So added 15 and
Sarai Carter had nine rebounds. In addition to Lemoge's 18,
Xochitl Nieves added 12 and
Delaney Dorwin had 10.
Whitney's Haylie Wang led the Wildcats with 17 points in their 48-40 win over Half Moon Bay in the CIF Division IV state championship on Saturday at Golden 1 Center. (PHOTO: David Steutel)
Half Moon Bay's Zoey Lemoge scored a game-high 18 points and grabbed 18 rebounds in a losing effort for the Cougars. (PHOTO: David Steutel)
