STATE PREP BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIPS : Stifling Full-Court Pressure Broke Down Panthers

Ever try to run through a sprinkler without getting wet?

Or try to throw a ball through a running fan without hitting the blades?

If so, you have an idea what the Newbury Park High girls’ basketball team was up against in Archbishop Mitty’s full-court press.

“There was just always someone flying at us, and we weren’t used to seeing that,” Panther guard Renee Intlekofer said after her team’s 64-56 loss in the Division III girls’ State title game on Saturday at the Oakland Coliseum Arena.

Mitty was at a height disadvantage at most positions against the Panthers, and with 6-foot-2 center Kerri Walsh on the bench in foul trouble, it was a disadvantage at all positions.

“We knew we couldn’t get into a half-court game with them,” Mitty Coach Sue Phillips-Chargin said, “so we tried to intensify our pressure.”

If there were any more pressure, eardrums would have popped.

Mitty used all five players to pressure inbounds passes, especially under Newbury Park’s basket.

The Monarchs forced 31 turnovers. Among the most significant were four in a row in the last 30 seconds of the half. Mitty turned those into seven points and took a 28-25 lead into the locker room.

The press was no surprise to Newbury Park players, who had seen it on film. They’d even tried to simulate it in practice during the week, but with little success.

“It’s real hard for Newbury Park to make a press where you have five girls that are all really quick,” Phillips-Chargin said.

The Panthers were able to beat the press with long passes for a stretch during a 14-3 run in the second quarter, but that strategy soon proved futile.

“We made adjustments,” Newbury Park Coach Nori Parvin said, “but (Mitty) made adjustments too. It was like a chess match.”

Parvin said the Panthers, who had won 26 in a row, were not used to such aggressive play.

“It was a little physical out there,” she said. “I think more physical than we are used to.”

Mitty’s Leslie Quintal was one of the instrumental players in the pressure. She had nine of her team’s 21 steals.

Quintal said the pressure wore down Newbury Park.

“I know I was a little tired,” she said, “so I figured they were too.”