Bishop O’Dowd ends Windward’s winning streak

SACRAMENTO — One word represented the kind of night it was for Los Angeles Windward on Saturday.

Physicality.

That was the obvious difference between unbeaten Windward and Oakland Bishop O’Dowd, the state’s top two girls’ basketball teams. Bishop O’Dowd (30-3) ended a 32-game Windward winning streak with a 60-45 victory on Saturday in the first CIF state championship Open Division game at Sleep Train Arena.

“I think the physicality of the game combined with their athleticism was the difference,” Windward Coach Vanessa Nygaard said.

USC-bound Windward senior Courtney Jaco came into the finals with a Southern Section single-season record 142 three-pointers. Jaco was limited to three points on one-for-12 shooting with one three-pointer, giving her 409 in her career.

“I think the physicality got to me and that is something I definitely I have to work on personally,” Jaco said.

Windward defeated O’Dowd, 58-43, on Dec. 29 in what Dragons Coach Malik McCord said was a game his players “didn’t come to play” in. In the final, O’Dowd used 6-foot-4 Oderah Chidom to guard the 5-7 Jaco to start the game and McCord told the Duke-bound senior, “Don’t leave Courtney.” The game plan seemed to work as the Dragons went on a 13-0 run and had a 27-10 lead midway through the second quarter. Windward reeled off a 12-0 run to make it 29-22 at halftime.

Junior Jordin Canada led Windward with 19 points. Junior Kristen Simon recorded a double-double with 10 points and 13 rebounds before fouling out with 4 minutes 56 seconds left.

Against an O’Dowd team that has three starters over 6 feet 2, Canada said not having Simon out there was crucial because Simon “is pretty much our only big player.” Windward shot just 21.9% (14 for 64) from the field.

Division II

Lynwood (29-5) added a fourth state championship banner to its rich girls’ basketball history with a 39-26 victory over Mountain View St. Francis in the Division II final.

The 65 total points scored break a CIF girls’ title game record for lowest combined score. The previous record was 67 points.

“We tell our team, defensively we can always win,” Lynwood Coach Ellis Barfield said.

The Knights went on a 13-0 run in the second quarter and led, 20-10, at halftime. Jazmine Johnson led Lynwood with 11 points.

Division IV

Siera Thompson scored 26 points and Deandrea Toler had 20 to help Gardena Serra (30-5) defeat Richmond Salesian, 62-60, and win its first CIF state championship in Division IV.

“I am just happy that my team was able to pull this off,” Thompson said.

Salesian junior Mariya Moore put on one of the greatest girls’ state title-game performances with 35 points and made 12 consecutive free throws down the stretch to get the Pride within one point with 2:26 left in the game after her team trailed by 15 in the third quarter. The 35 points by Moore rank fifth all-time in CIF title game history and her 17 of 20 free-throw shooting set the records for both.

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