Bishop Amat Earns Its Perfect Ending

The second half of the Division III state final seemed more like a second season for the La Puente Bishop Amat girls’ basketball team. At stake Saturday was a rare undefeated season and the program’s first state title.

The Lancers watched their 18-point, third-quarter lead against defending champion Stockton St. Mary’s shrink to six by the start of the fourth. They stretched it back to 10 with more than three minutes remaining, only to allow the Rams back within a point two minutes later.

It wasn’t until St. Mary’s senior guard Renee Roberts, the state’s career leader for three-point baskets, missed an off-hand three-point attempt at the buzzer that Bishop Amat (35-0) could finally exhale, knowing it had staved off the favored Rams, 56-53, at Arco Arena.

Roberts, who tied a Division III state record last season by making five of seven three-pointers in a 54-45 victory over Bishop Amat, never got untracked Saturday.

Roberts, who signed with Pacific, missed 12 of 13 three-point attempts. Her last came after Bishop Amat missed its fourth consecutive free throw and St. Mary’s inbounded the ball near midcourt following a timeout with 7.6 seconds to play. Defensive pressure from Jessica Carrera forced Roberts to shoot with her left hand and the ball bounced off the rim as the buzzer sounded.

“I was a little scared when [Roberts’] shot got close,” said Bishop Amat Coach Richard Wiard. “Then I was happy.”

Roberts’ backcourt mate, Connecticut-bound junior Jacki Gemelos, tried to pick up the slack during the game, but needed 32 shots to score 30 points, also a state record for the division.

“I feel like our season was a success, but I just wish we could have pulled this one out,” Gemelos said.

St. Mary’s (30-5), playing in its sixth consecutive state final, was facing a more athletic Bishop Amat team than last season, when the Rams turned up the tempo and pulled away in the second half. St. Mary’s was also smaller up front, which allowed Juanise Cornell, Candice Brown and Christen Myles to dominate inside.

Cornell and Myles combined to make 11 of 13 shots and score 27 points and Brown contributed 12 points and had 16 rebounds. Bishop Amat owned a 42-30 edge in rebounding, despite giving up a 17-11 advantage on the offensive end.

“The exciting thing is,” Wiard said, “we were here last year and we had six seniors, with four senior starters, and not too many people thought we were going to be very good this season.”

Bishop Amat is the first girls’ team from the state to finish unbeaten since Lynwood (32-0) won the Division I title in 2002.

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Unbeaten Path

These teams are among the state’s 82 in boys’ basketball and 38 in girls’ basketball to have finished unbeaten in a season (teams with 30 victories or more and all Southland schools included):

*--* BOYS Team Rec. Year San Anselmo Drake 34-0 1982 Modesto Christian 33-0 1997 La Mesa Helix 33-0 1970 Campbell Hall 32-0 2005 San Diego Kearny 32-0 1974 Compton 32-0 1968 Spring Valley Mt. Miguel 32-0 1968 Palo Alto 31-0 1993 Elk Grove 30-0 1974 Compton 30-0 1969 Ventura 30-0 1949 Oxnard Santa Clara 28-0 1990 Mater Dei 29-0 1985 Glendale 28-0 1985 Crenshaw 24-0 1985 Inglewood 29-0 1980 Crenshaw 18-0 1973 Crenshaw* 14-0 1972 L.A. Jordan 18-0 1970 South Pasadena 29-0 1967 L.A. Jordan 18-0 1966 Granada Hills 18-0 1964 L.A. Fremont 18-0 1959 Compton 32-0 1952 L.A. Jefferson 27-0 1951 Hollywood 18-0 1950 L.A. Washington 21-0 1949 L.A. Marshall 15-0 1944 Long Beach Poly 16-0 1921 Glendale 11-0 1910 Whittier 13-0 1907 * forfeited to 2-12 GIRLS Team Rec. Year Lynwood 32-0 2002 Narbonne 34-0 2000 Atherton Sacred Heart Prep 38-0 1994 Atherton Sacred Heart Prep 37-0 1993 Sacramento El Camino 36-0 1994 Bishop Amat 35-0 2005 San Diego Point Loma 34-0 1987 Peninsula 33-0 1992 Brea Olinda 33-0 1994 Lynwood 32-0 2002 San Jose Mitty 31-0 1999 Lynwood 31-0 1993 Compton 26-0 1985 Buena 31-0 1984 Riverside Poly 34-0 1982 Riverside Poly 29-0 1981 El Camino Real 19-0 1977 Los Angeles 16-0 1977 Ventura 23-0 1976 Buena 8-0 1972

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Source: Cal-Hi Sports