GIRLS’ BASKETBALL DIVISION II SEMIFINALS : Happily for San Pasqual, Plan A Works Just Fine

The thing about contingency plans is this:

They’re nice to have sitting in the shadows. They’re a welcome addition if needed, but it’s just as well if they aren’t.

Wednesday night in a San Diego Section girls’ Division II basketball semifinal at Mira Mesa, San Pasqual stuck instead to its original scheme and in doing so easily defeated El Cajon Valley, 71-59.

San Pasqual was seriously challenged just once, when El Cajon made a run early in the fourth quarter and closed the gap to 50-42. But it didn’t worry San Pasqual much.

“I wasn’t too concerned,” San Pasqual Coach Terri Bamford said. “That’s why I called a timeout.”

The Golden Eagles then went back to the 12- and 13-points lead it had established early on, and the victory was theirs.

The night before, things weren’t quite as rosy for second-ranked San Pasqual (24-4). During Tuesday’s practice, junior center Becki Callahan, a significant part of Plan A, sprained her right ankle.

Callahan said she was in therapy twice during the day, but it wasn’t until pregame warm-ups that Bamford decided to play her.

“We watched her during warm-ups,” Bamford said. “She couldn’t really go off it right.”

But she did so adequately enough to score 18 points, behind teammates Nikki Gannon (20) and Valerie Ryan (19).

So what was the plan had Callahan been unable to play?

“Wendy Hill,” Bamford said.

Bamford would have started Hill at center and moved another player to forward, where Hill started.

As it turned out, both players got themselves in foul trouble. Callahan had four at the half, Hill four going into the fourth quarter. Hill fouled out with 7:31 to play, and four minutes later, Callahan followed her to the bench.

“I was a little worried,” Callahan said.

San Pasqual went to the 2-A final in 1987, won Division II in 1988 and lost in the first round last year, Bamford’s first.

Debbie Duhaney scored 32 points for El Cajon (21-6).