HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL : Woodley’s Effort Gives Title to El Cajon Valley

Julie Woodley had been waiting three years for the El Cajon Valley girls’ basketball team to claim the Grossmont 2-A League title and earn a trip to the section championships.

So, in her final league game, a game for the championship, the senior guard wasn’t going to take any chances.

Woodley scored 23 points to lead the Braves to a 78-58 victory over Santana at El Cajon Valley High Tuesday.

“Finally,” Woodley said. “Finally we did it. I’ve been waiting three years for this. I just shot when I was open. This time we went out and totally played our game, and we didn’t rush.”

Two weeks ago, No. 2 El Cajon Valley (23-1, 7-1) lost to seventh-ranked Santana (18-5, 6-1), but when it counted, the Braves earned the victory and the league title.

“El Cajon wore us down,” Santana Coach Wade Vickery said. “Our kids weren’t ready to play championship ball. El Cajon played great, and Woodley was awesome. Our kids face a little adversity and they quit. It’s kind of disturbing.”

After not scoring in the first quarter, Woodley brought the Braves within two, then tied the score, 24-24, with 5:35 remaining in the first half. Tracy Wilcox gave El Cajon Valley its first lead of the game, 26-24, with five minutes left. Woodley then boosted the Braves to a 31-26 lead with a basket and three-point shot. The score was tied, 38-38, at halftime.

“Julie is a tough little floor leader,” El Cajon Valley Coach Robert Holm said. “She competed hard. Without her big shots she made in the first half we would have been hard pressed. This was by far the best team effort of the year.”

The Braves switched from the zone to triangle defense in the second half, shutting down Santana’s Stephanie Thompson and jumping to a 62-50 third-quarter lead.

After scoring 20 points in the first half, Thompson had just 10 in the second. With her 30 points, Thompson broke Santana’s career scoring record of 1,579 set by Leslie Ellis in 1988. Thompson has 1,592 points.

The Braves gradually broke open the game, taking a 70-52 lead with four minutes left to play. El Cajon held Santana to just eight points in the final quarter.

“I’m really pleased how they played that triangle the last quarter and half,” Holm said. “Those are tough kids (El Cajon Valley). My biggest fear tonight was did we have the heart to compete. They did it themselves. They’re not a real emotional team. They made me a believer tonight.”