A Picture of Perfection for Peninsula : Panthers Stake Their Claim to Greatness After Finishing 33-0 Season With State Title

They say nobody’s perfect, but you could make a pretty good case for the Peninsula High girls’ basketball team.

The Panthers came about as close to perfection as possible in finishing their season with a 33-0 record, winning the state Division I championship and earning the No. 1 ranking in the nation by USA Today.

Peninsula became the first South Bay basketball team to accomplish the feat since the Inglewood boys’ team, behind guard Ralph Jackson, went undefeated and finished No. 1 in the nation in 1980.

But the Panthers had to endure a few scary moments in the state title game against Monta Vista of Cupertino on Saturday at Arco Arena in Sacramento. The Panthers trailed, 24-23, at halftime but pulled away in the third quarter to win, 63-44.

Although Peninsula had experienced a few close games during the regular season, including narrow victories over Christ the King of New York City in December and Brea-Olinda in January, it was the first time this season in which Peninsula trailed at halftime.

“We’re not used to being down at halftime,” Coach Wendell Yoshida said. “We were dropping balls, missing free throws and making a lot of mistakes. This was the first time we’ve been down at the half this season and this was probably the first time in 40-plus games over the last two seasons that we were behind.”

Yoshida said there were several factors that might have led to his team’s slow start.

“(Monta Vista) got pretty excited playing an undefeated team, and I think that was a big factor in the first half,” he said. “Teams usually get pretty excited to play us. They had nothing to lose, and they played like it in the first half.”

Yoshida said it didn’t help the Panthers when he guaranteed earlier in the week that they would win the game.

“We were a little flat and me guaranteeing we’d win a state championship probably got (Monta Vista) even more fired up,” he said.

Monta Vista Coach Virgil Pate, whose team entered the title game with a 29-1 record, agreed that the Panthers appeared a little sluggish at the start of the game.

“They may have come out a little flat in the first half, and I thought we caught them by surprise some too,” he said. “We might have been a little better than they thought we would be.”

But neither Yoshida nor his team panicked in the locker room at halftime.

“I didn’t draw anything on the chalkboard or scream at them at halftime,” he said. “It was more a case of us doing the things we have done all season, and they just made up their minds that they were going to do that.”

Senior center Jeffra Gausepohl said: “I think we realized that we had to do it as a team and not on our individual ability. At the half, (Yoshida) told us, ‘You guys are fighting it,’ and we came out and played real well in the second half.”

The Panthers went on a 19-2 run at the start of the third quarter, going ahead for good on a basket by forward Monique Morehouse. They stretched their lead to 42-26 on a three-point basket by forward Mimi McKinney with 1 minute 28 seconds remaining in the quarter.

McKinney, a sophomore and the only starter who isn’t a senior, scored 17 points in the second half to finish with a team-leading 27 points and nine rebounds.

“That’s when Peninsula showed up,” Pate said. “They were absent in the first half. We played really well, and, if we had shot the ball a little better, we might have been in control of the game. But we were blindsided by what they were able to do as quickly as they did it.”

Pate said his team was happy to have the opportunity to play against the Panthers.

“It’s fun playing against people that are as good as they are, and they’re a good team. They’re a fantastic team.”

How good was this team?

“I’ll go out on a limb and say this is the best team I’ve ever had,” Yoshida said. “It’s the most talented team and the most athletic team. It’s the best team I’ve seen in 12 years of coaching.”

Yoshida thinks the Panthers have secured their place among the best girls’ high school teams ever. “This has got to be the best team ever in high school basketball, definitely in California at least,” he said.

Peninsula can support that claim with the fact that all four of its senior starters have earned scholarships to NCAA Division I programs next season. Guard Kristen Mulligan and forward Morehouse have signed national letters of intent to attend Auburn, Gausepohl will attend Virginia and guard Raquel Alotis has signed with UC Santa Barbara.

In addition, McKinney is regarded as one of the top underclassmen in the state.

Despite the individual talent, Yoshida said the Panthers succeeded by playing as a team.

“I would capitalize team in bold letters,” he said. “There were people here who could’ve been stars in their own right at other schools. Some people said this was like an all-star team. But in my eyes, all of the players were stars.”

Yoshida said it was the camaraderie of the team that stood out after the title game.

“Their love for the game and their love for each other was very evident after the game,” he said. “I think the one thing that will always be remembered about this night is that the girls were more upset that they’d never get to play together again.”

The Panthers will have at least one more opportunity to celebrate together. The school is holding a pep rally at noon Friday in its gym to unfurl its national championship banner.

“It’s something that will be remembered forever,” Yoshida said. “It doesn’t last forever, but it will always be remembered.”