State Playoffs

STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS

All games at Arco Arena (Sacramento)

Saturday, March 20

DIVISION I

Oakland Tech 58, San Diego 54
SACRAMENTO--The Bulldogs held off a late charge by San Diego to complete the sweep for Northern California teams.

Oakland Tech (25-6) took a 10-point lead midway through the third quarter, but had to send its leading scorer, 6-foot-3 center Devanei Hampton, to the bench with her fourth foul.

After Hampton fouled out with 5:10 remaining in the game and Oakland Tech leading by four, the Cavers (31-4) cut the deficit to one with 3:54 remaining.

However, San Diego’s leading scorer, 6-3 senior forward Charde Houston, fouled out on its next possession and the Cavers quickly fell behind by seven.

Houston, who scored 43 points to set a Southern California regional finished last week, finished with a team-high 19 points and nine rebounds.

Alexis Gray-Lawson led Oakland Tech with 15 points and Hampton had 11.
--Dan Arritt

DIVISION III

Stockton St. Mary’s 54, Bishop Amat 45
SACRAMENTO -- Keeping up with Stockton St. Mary’s was a challenge for the La Puente Bishop Amat girls’ basketball team Saturday afternoon in the Division III state final.

Once the Lancers fell behind late in second quarter, catching up proved to be impossible.

And the Rams knew it.

St. Mary’s defeated the Lancers, 54-45, at Arco Arena for its 25th consecutive victory and first state title in Division III. The Rams won Division IV titles in 2000 and 2003.

St. Mary’s (31-4) took the steam out of the Lancers with a 17-0 run that stretched from early in the second quarter to the first possession of the third. Bishop Amat went 7 minutes 20 seconds with scoring to fall behind, 26-17.

The Lancers (31-4) missed nine of 11 shots in the second quarter and three of four free throws.

“Getting behind was an uphill proposition for us,” Bishop Amat Coach Richard Wiard said. “If we would have made of few of our shots and a few of our foul shots, we would have been in better shape at the half.” St. Mary’s Coach Tom Gonzalves didn’t see it that way.

“I thought they were already tired [at halftime] and would have trouble running with us,” he said. “I was pretty confident at the half.”

The Rams stretched their lead to 14 twice in the second half. Bishop Amat cut the led to 44-35 on Erin Myrick’s put-back basket with 3:20 remaining, but Jacki Gemelos followed with a three-pointer that barely beat the shot clock, putting St. Mary’s back ahead by double digits.

St. Mary’s capitalized on its three-point shooting ability the entire game, making eight of 24 compared to just one of nine for Bishop Amat. The Lancers hoped to take better advantage of their size inside, but it wasn’t enough.

“We have to play slow because we don’t have the foot speed,” Wiard said. “[St. Mary’s) three best players are perimeter shooters. When they spread the floor it made things more difficult.”

Myrick, a 6-foot-2 forward who has signed with Texas Tech, made her presence known inside, making 10 of 13 shots and scoring 21 points, but foul trouble kept her on the bench for seven minutes during the game.

Gemelos, a 5-11 sophomore guard who averaged 21.9 points this season, finished with 18, but she was aided by teammate Renee Roberts, who scored a team-high 21 points and made five of seven three-pointers to tie a 14-year-old Division III state finals record.
--Dan Arritt

Bishop Ama 12 5 8 20 -- 45
St. Mary’s 6 17 15 18 -- 54

BISHOP AMAT--Myrick 21 (and 14 rebounds), Jones 9 (and 8 rebounds), Simmons 6, Alvarez 3, Carrera 2, Fanco 2, Cornell 2.

ST. MARY’S--Roberts 21 (and 4 steals), Gemelos 18, Ducker 6 (and 10 rebounds), Helms 3, Amick 2, Gonsalves 2, Weymouth 2.

Records: Bishop Amat 31-3; St. Mary’s 30-4.

DIVISION V

Auburn Forest Lake Christian 65, San Luis Obispo Mission Prep 47
The Royals became the first team, boys or girls, to lose five state championship games, falling in the Division V final for the second consecutive season.

Forest Lake Christian (31-4), which made eight of 24 three-pointers, outscored Mission Prep, 25-11, in the second quarter to take a 14-point halftime lead.

Katherine Suderman, a 6-foot-5 senior center, had 25 points and 13 rebounds to lead Mission Prep (18-9), which is still seeking its first state title.
--Dan Arritt

San Luis Obispo Mission Prep 13 11 14 9 -- 47
Auburn Forest Lake Christian 13 25 12 15 -- 65

MISSION PREP--Dale 8, Mirolla 5, B. Morrow 7, Morrison 0, Suderman 25 (and 13 rebounds), Destiche 2.

FOREST LAKE CHRISTIAN--Hodges 10, Kilgore 14, Jacobs 14, Jackson 15 (and 9 rebounds), Allen 11 (and 9 rebounds and 8 assists), Deneen 1.

Records: Mission Prep 18-9; Lake Christian 30-4

Friday, March 19

DIVISION II

Concord Carondelet 48, Troy 41
SACRAMENTO -- Nothing seemed to work for the Fullerton Troy girls’ basketball team Friday in the state Division II final. Not even a change in appearance.

The Warriors shot 25% from the field, 60% from the free-throw line and never made up for a slow start against Concord Carondelet. The end result was a loss at Arco Arena, only their second in the last 47 games.

Troy, which won the Division II state title last season, came into the game with two key players nursing nagging injuries.

Meghan McGuire, the Warriors’ leading scorer, was sidelined with a sprained ankle most of last week and Nicole Hayman wore a mask during the first half after breaking her nose last week in the Southern California Regional final against Santa Ana Mater Dei.

After the Warriors fell behind, 22-16, at the half, Hayman removed her mask to start the third quarter, buried her first shot but then missed her next three. Alli Russi followed with back-to-back three-point baskets to put the Cougars ahead, 34-21, with 2 minutes 28 seconds remaining in the third quarter.

Troy (33-2) started a 10-0 run at the end of the third quarter that brought the Warriors to within three points with 5:25 remaining, but Carondelet scored the next six points to retake control of the game.

“They played hard and we didn’t,” Troy Coach Kevin Kiernan said. “They got contributions from a lot of people.”

That’s something the Warriors didn’t enjoy, especially in the first half when McGuire and Sara Yee combined to score all of Troy’s points while the rest of the team shot 0 for 14 from the field.

Kiernan wasn’t the only person questioning Troy’s effort.

“It’s a state championship game, you expect everyone to play hard,” said McGuire, who had 16 points and 11 rebounds to lead Troy, but also had a team-high five turnovers.

The Warriors managed to grab 17 offensive rebounds, compared to none for Carondelet (30-3), and out-rebounded the Cougars, 36-23. The Cougars committed 21 turnovers compared to 19 for Troy, but in the end, it seemed the Cougars wanted the victory more.

Jayne Appel, Carondelet’s 6-foot-5 sophomore center, started slowly, scoring just two points in the first quarter, but she was a force down the stretch when the Warriors made their late run. She finished with a team-high 15 points, nine rebounds and five blocked shots.

Troy’s only other loss this season came against San Clemente and its 6-3 center Lindsey Pluimer. Appel wasn’t nearly as much a threat offensively, but she opened up shots for her teammates.

“Whether she scores 15 or 30,” Kiernan said, “she created shots for her teammates.”
-- Dan Arritt

DIVISION IV

Piedmont 60, La Jolla Country Day 51

Saturday, March 20

DIVISION V

San Luis Obispo Mission Prep (19-7) vs. Auburn Forest Lake Christian (30-4), 9:30 a.m.

DIVISION III

Bishop Amat (31-3) vs. Stockton St. Mary’s (31-4), 1 p.m.

DIVISION I

San Diego (31-3) vs. Oakland Tech (23-6), 6 p.m.