Oxnard Advances Behind the Line

Nicole Black of Oxnard High didn’t know how much time was left or if her feet were planted beyond the three-point line at the end of Tuesday night’s Southern Section Division I-AA girls’ semifinal game against Victor Valley at Oxnard College.

She did know that the Yellowjackets trailed by two points and that she was wide open on the left side.

So when teammate Donya Walker passed her the ball, Black swished a 20-foot jump shot with 3.5 seconds left to gave Oxnard a 60-59 victory and its first berth in a section championship game.

Oxnard (17-11), which has won four consecutive playoff games since being trounced by Ventura, 59-37, in its regular-season finale, will play Lynwood in the championship game at the Pyramid in Long Beach at 8:30 on Saturday night.

“It’s like a dream. I can’t believe it,” said the 5-foot-9 Black, who had 17 points and 15 rebounds. “Being my senior season and all, this is incredible.”

The Yellowjackets trailed, 59-57, with 14 seconds left in the game when Victor Valley’s Sydney Gatson missed a one-and-one free throw. Walker grabbed the rebound and dribbled upcourt before hitting Black.

“That’s one of our last-second shots,” Oxnard Coach Ryle Lynch-Cole said. “We either want Jaline [Bradley] to penetrate or let Nicole shoot from outside.”

Gatson, who scored 21 points, gave the Jackrabbits (18-10) a 59-57 lead with 33 seconds left on a three-point play.

Black, who had 15 points in the second half, missed a three-pointer prior to that, but it didn’t faze her on her game-winning shot.

“I was just sitting there wide open and waving my arms, hoping they were going to see me,” she said.

Bradley, a sophomore who averaged 27 points in Oxnard’s first three playoff victories, scored 17 points, including seven in the fourth quarter.

Danielle Curtis added 13 points, 15 rebounds and three steals for the Yellowjackets, who led, 13-4, after one quarter, but trailed, 24-18, at halftime.

“We’ve just been a Jekyll and Hyde team this season,” Lynch-Cole said of the Oxnard’s five-point second quarter.

“We’ve been up one quarter and down the next all year, but we seem to get better in the playoffs.”