Saddleback Reaches the Final

One Saddleback player admitted she choked in the closing seconds, and the coach said it was the Gauchos’ least intense performance of the season, but they are in the state women’s basketball championship game anyway.

Saddleback missed 14 free throws and shot 35%, but hung on to beat Solano, 54-53, in a semifinal Friday at the San Jose State Event Center.

The victory sets up the matchup that has been talked about for the last two months.

Saddleback, 31-0 and ranked second in the state, meets No. 1 Ventura (34-0) at 5 p.m. today for the state title.

Ventura steamed past Sacramento, 77-53, in the other semifinal.

“[Ventura] rightfully has the No. 1 ranking,” Saddleback Coach Jack Single said. “We are going to have to play our best game of the year to be in contention.”

Saddleback played nothing even close to its best Friday.

Solano (29-7), led, 26-24, at the half and neither team was ahead by more than four in the second half.

Down, 54-52, with 55 seconds left, Solano’s Jamie Maher made one of two free throws to get the Falcons within one, 54-53.

Saddleback ran the shot clock to seven (32 seconds were left on the game clock) and called timeout.

Saddleback then put the ball in play and failed to get off a shot.

Solano took possession, but Nicole Zuniga knocked it loose and Saddleback’s Cheryl Dickson and Solano’s Maria Lara both grabbed it for jump ball.

Solano got the alternating possession with 15 seconds left. Zuniga, a sophomore guard, knocked the ball loose again and this time Maureen Skehan and Lara were tied up for a jump ball and possession went to Saddleback.

The ball was inbounded to Zuniga and she was fouled with eight seconds left. In a one-and-one situation, she missed the first as she had done with 1 minutes 3 seconds left.

Solano rushed the ball to the front count and Lara missed a baseline 15-footer. Skehan got the rebound as time ran out.

“I had to do something to get the ball,” Zuniga said. “I had missed my free throws in crunch time.”

Asked about the final free throw, she said, “I choked.”

Of course missing free throws doesn’t make her unique among the Gauchos. Saddleback was 10 of 24 in the game and is 17 of 38 in two state tournament games.

From the field, the Gauchos were worse, making 22 of 63 (34.9%), all two-point attempts.

Saddleback forward Cha-Ron Walker scored a team-high 14 and also had 10 rebounds. She made two key free throws that put Saddleback ahead, 52-48, with 3:08 left.

Shanna Renken and Nekeda Allen, also forwards, had 11 points each.

Saddleback had struggled for much of the game in a 71-50 victory over Merced in the quarterfinals Thursday.

“Intensity-wise, these have been our worst two games of the season,” Single said. “We came out extremely flat, and I have no idea why.”