Valley Finds an Opening, Cashes In 65-62 Victory

The basketball rims at College of the Sequoias must have looked like those enticing but tiny hoops in a carnival game to the Valley women’s team, which attempted a whopping 95 shots against De Anza but made only 24.

Yet, unlike the spendthrifts at a county fair, Valley gave no quarter, forcing 23 turnovers and outrebounding a far taller De Anza team to pull out a gutty come-from-behind win, 65-62, Thursday in the quarterfinals of the state tournament.

“That was an unbelievable game,” said Valley Coach Doug Michelson, whose team finished second in the state last season. “This is the toughest opener I’ve had in my three years.”

De Anza had Valley in a half Nelson at the break after willowy 5-foot-11 guard Beth Nelson scored 10 points to give De Anza a 34-27 halftime lead.

However, De Anza failed to turn it into a full nelson. After falling into foul trouble and losing her shooting touch, Nelson scored only four second-half points to finish with a game-high 14.

Valley (30-5) finally pulled ahead, 47-46, with 11 minutes 18 seconds remaining and then ran off a 7-0 streak to build a 57-51 lead.

With Valley clinging to a 63-62 lead and 38 seconds left, De Anza (29-6) fouled Laura Kirkpatrick, who sank two free throws to set the final score.

De Anza’s attempts for a game-tying, three-point basket were badly off the mark, and Valley advanced to the semifinals, in which the Monarchs will face Sequoias at 8 tonight. During the last stages of the game, Michelson went to a two point-guard lineup with Leticia Carranza and Sylvia Castaneda, and Valley, making its fourth consecutive appearance in the final eight, maintained its poise.

“They orchestrated our stretch drive,” Michelson said of Carranza and Castaneda. “That’s a luxury we have, to have two quality point guards.”

Carranza finished with 11 points to tie Christine Rumfola and Sandrine Rocher for team scoring honors.