Girls’ 2A Semifinal : Southwest: Finally in the Final

For the past five years, Southwest High School has had one of the best girls’ basketball teams in San Diego County.

The Raiders have been consistently ranked in the top five by the county’s coaches. But the Raiders had never been it to the San Diego Section finals.

That changed Saturday night.

Southwest, ranked No. 2 this season, defeated Lincoln, 59-42, in the 2-A semifinals at Serra High. The Raiders (24-2) will play San Marcos (25-3) at 2:30 p.m. in Saturday’s finals at the Sports Arena.

“We’d never even won a playoff game before,” said Southwest Coach John Boone. “We were always the second seed in the league. And even though we were ranked...we’d have to go play someone in the North County in the first round and get beat.”

Probably the biggest difference for the Raiders this year is 5-foot, 11-inch forward Michele Wilkes, a senior who transferred to Southwest after playing at Bonita Vista last season.

Wilkes, who was the county’s fourth-leading scorer with a 22.6 average this year, scored 27 points Saturday night. Most of Wilkes’ points came at times when Lincoln was gaining momentum.

Lincoln (15-6) jumped out to a 7-0 lead, but the Raiders fought back and took their first lead, 12-10, with 1:01 to play in the first period behind on a basket by point-guard Nancy Caparaz.

The Hornets trailed by only three, 16-13, early in the second, but Wilkes scored nine points in the next five minutes as Southwest forged a 33-21 lead.

After Lincoln cut the lead to, 43-38, on Michelle Outlaw’s layup with 6:45 to play, Wilkes made two baskets and two free throws to help Southwest put the game out of reach.