San Diego Prep Review : Was Southwest Caught Short in Girls’ Final?

Although they don’t believe it was the deciding factor in their 55-52 loss to San Marcos High School in the 2-A final Saturday, some members of Southwest girls’ basketball team said they were taken aback by the unorthodox defensive method they said San Marcos used against them.

“They were pulling down our shorts,” said Michele Wilkes, who led Southwest with 22 points. “When I was trying to make my moves and run our plays, one of their players would be pulling down my shorts. It was happening all the time. When it wouldn’t happen to me, my players would tell me it was happening to them.”

Wilkes said she was the main recipient of San Marcos’ alleged tactics. The Knights also engaged in a fair amount of pushing, shoving and elbowing, Wilkes said, though she found that more acceptable.

“I guess they were trying to intimidate us,” she said. “I was getting elbows in my face for no reason. It didn’t intimidate me. I just didn’t want someone’s elbow in my face. But their grabbing our shorts was distracting. It’s hard to shoot when you’re worrying about where your uniform is instead of where you’re supposed to be.”

Said forward Nancy Caparaz: “I never got my shorts pulled down, but then I wasn’t rebounding. Michele said they were doing a lot of that inside. I just got elbowed a lot.”

Wilkes said she told Southwest Coach John Boone of the incidents, but Boone said he couldn’t see it from the sideline.

“Several girls said, ‘Every time I try to set up, I get grabbed from behind or pulled back,’ ” he said. “I think Michele received most of that, as a way to take away any advantage she might have. I didn’t actually see anyone’s shorts pulled, but like most people, I was watching the ball. I know that those things can go on away from the ball and not be noticed.”

Boone said took his players’ complaints seriously and referred their concerns to the officials. However, the referees didn’t call any fouls.

“They’ve got to worry about people pushing, traveling, three seconds in the key and all those things,” Wilkes said. “I don’t think they were used to looking for people pulling down shorts.”

Boone said that has heard of the tactic being used before.

“I think that anybody who’s ever been around basketball has heard about it or been involved with it,” he said. “There are two responses to it. You can retaliate or you can ignore it. I think the way a team plays reflects what they’ve been taught. I really don’t think it should be a part of the game, especially in high school sports. I always thought that we were kind of the last bastion of idealism.”

Bob Kellison, San Marcos coach, could not be reached for comment Sunday.

Blair Noonan, a freshman at San Pasqual, began the season as the second-string goalkeeper on the junior varsity team. Saturday night, she found herself standing in the rain in front of the goal at San Diego High trying to save the San Diego Section 2-A title for the Golden Eagles.

The match against University had ended in a 1-1 tie that could not be broken by two 10-minute overtimes and two 5-minute sudden-death overtimes.

To decide the match, each team would get five penalty kicks. The team that made the most would be the section champion. At this point, San Pasqual Coach Bill Bullock decided to give Noonan her introduction to varsity soccer.

“I was very nervous,” Noonan said. “It was raining and everything, so I figured I’d probably do a bad job because it was so slippery out there. But I got over the nervousness. I knew I just had to go out and stop as many as I could.”

Her nerve-wracking debut was hardly unexpected. Weeks earlier in practice, Bullock had decided that Noonan, whose size and quickness compensated for her lack of experience, would play goal in the event of a shootout.

“For about a month, we just practiced penalty kicks for about a half hour every day,” Noonan said.

Those practices represented almost all of Noonan’s preparation for the final. Even when she became the junior varsity’s starting goalkeeper at midseason, she received little experience making saves.

“We have a terrific defense (on the junior varsity), so I was lucky if I got any shots,” she said. “I’d usually only touch the ball once in a game.”

The shootout against University began ominously for Noonan. After San Pasqual’s first kick sailed wide to the right, Felicia Faro blasted one past Noonan to give the Dons the early advantage.

“When we missed that first shot and they scored, I thought it was adios,” Bullock said.

Dawn Evans scored on San Pasqual’s next kick, after which the second University shot went over the net.

The Eagles took the lead on their next shot on Sara Vejtasa’s goal. A save by Noonan would hold the advantage. However, the shot by sweeper Karen Steffen squeezed into the corner just to the left of her grasp.

The shootout round ended in a 2-2 tie. Of the Dons’ five kicks, only two had a chance to go in and both made it past Noonan. That led to the sudden-death shootout.

After Jonna Otto put the Eagles ahead on the first kick, it was up to Noonan to finish off the Dons. The shot by Joanne De Luz was on target, but so was Noonan, who deflected it.

“I didn’t even know that we would win CIF if I saved it,” Noonan said. “I just tried to knock it down. Then, as I was getting up, I saw the whole team jumping up and down and running toward me.”

With varsity goalkeepers Stephanie Hill and Missy Mackay graduating, San Pasqual will need a replacement for next season. Noonan said she hopes it will be her. And Bullock says Noonan at least has the physical qualifications for the job.

“She has the quickness, she just doesn’t have the game smarts that come with playing,” Bullock said.

Although Noonan may not much varsity experience, no one can say she can’t deal with pressure situations.