Return engagement results in CIF title for Bellarmine-Jefferson girls’ basketball
SANTA ANA — They had been there before and they acted like it.
Members of the Bellarmine-Jefferson High girls’ basketball team had been in the gym at Godinez Fundamental High before.
However, the venue held painful memories for the Guards. During a 2016 CIF Southern Section championship game, Bell-Jeff was blown out by Los Angeles Price by a 22-point margin.
The Guards exorcised the memories of those losing ghosts Saturday evening and, on this occasion, they walked off the Godinez court smiling and celebrating.
No. 1 seed Bell-Jeff used a big second-quarter surge and an effective defensive effort to defeat No. 2 Chadwick, 56-39, and capture the Division V-A championship.
The win marks only the fourth CIF championship won by a Bell-Jeff team in any sport in the 73-year history of the school. The others came in girls’ basketball in 1996 and 2009 and in softball in 2013.
“This doesn’t feel real, it feels like I’m in a dream,” Bell-Jeff’s Claire Borot said. “I can’t believe that this really happened and that we won it. It just feels amazing to be able to win a title with this team. We have had our ups and downs this season, but we always kept working hard to make this happen.”
Borot made CIF history with her performance Saturday. The junior set the Division V-A finals record for blocks in a game with six, eclipsing Faith Baptist’s Reanne Lappinga, who had four in 2000. Borot also had team-high 16 points to go along with 11 rebounds.
Also stepping up for Bell-Jeff was junior Cosette Balmy, who finished with 16 points, nine rebounds, six assists and three steals. Sophomore Dalila Rincan added 12 points.
“We were ready for this and we knew this was going to be ours,” said Balmy, whose squad lost to Price a year earlier in the Division VI final, 62-40. “This year we really knew what to expect, not like last year, and we knew what we had to do to get our rings.
“Being able to win this is something that I just can’t describe. ... It is just incredible and it feels super great. It is so much better than last year.”
Bell-Jeff (25-3), champions of the Santa Fe League, used defensive pressure and an efficient transition game to frustrate and fluster Chadwick (19-7), the runner-up from the Prep League.
The Dolphins jumped out to a three-point lead, 11-8, after sophomore Hannah Gordon sank two three throws with 1:15 remaining. The Guards missed their first five shots from the field and committed four turnovers in the opening stanza.
The Guards recovered somewhat the remainder of the quarter and went into the first break leading, 14-13.
However, it was in the second quarter when Bell-Jeff made its move.
Two of Chadwick’s best players, freshmen Madison Benson and Katie Rose Garrett, got into foul trouble and the Guards took full advantage. After the Dolphins took a 15-14 lead at the 7:18 mark, Bell-Jeff embarked on a monumental 16-0 run that translated into a 15-point advantage, 30-15, following a driving layup by Balmy with 1:10 remaining.
Chadwick finally broke its lengthy drought with a basket by sophomore Kate Chappel with 39 seconds left. The Dolphins converted just two of 16 shots from the floor in the second quarter and were outscored, 18-4, as Bell-Jeff went into halftime with a 32-17 cushion.
“That second quarter was that push we were looking for,” Bell-Jeff Coach Claudia Villa said. “That first quarter I expected us to play like we did and just go out there and play crazy. But in that second quarter, they seemed a little bit more comfortable and they calmed down. I think they saw our opponent and they were able to take care of business.”
In complete control, the Guards went into the final stanza with a 17-point lead, 43-26, and cruised in the fourth.
In the game, Chadwick converted 15 of 59 field-goal attempts, compared to the Guards, who made 24 of 53.
The Dolphins were paced by freshman Hope Barnett, who poured in a game-high 20 points. However, the team’s next highest scorer, Gordon, had just six.
With a CIF championship under its belt, Bell-Jeff will now move on to the state playoffs, which begin tonight.
“Winning a CIF title is nice for our players, it’s nice for me, it’s nice for Burbank, it’s just nice,” Villa said. “The expectations were just so high last year when we made that great run and then falling a little short. This really makes up for that. This is just amazing and I’m so proud of these girls.”
