Bell-Jeff girls’ basketball back in CIF championship game

After seven years, the Bellarmine-Jefferson High girls’ basketball team is back in a CIF Southern Section championship game.

The Guards earned a spot in the Division VI title contest with a spirited effort Saturday night on the road against second-seeded California Lutheran. Bolstered by a sizable early lead, Bell-Jeff jumped out in front and held on down the stretch for a 57-51 victory.

“I have to tell you, for the first time in a long time when that final buzzer went off, I felt like I was going to pass out. That was No. 1,” second-year Bell-Jeff Coach Claudia Villa said. “I am just so happy for the girls and this is something so nice for them.”

Bell-Jeff (16-12), the No. 3 seed and runner-up from the Santa Fe League, will play Price in the championship game either Friday or Saturday at Azusa Pacific University or Godinez High. Top-seeded Price (26-6), a freelance team, routed Mesa Grande, 66-37, in a semifinal game Saturday.

“We have had the opportunity to see film on Price to kind of see what they have,” Villa said. “But as a team we’re not changing anything. We are going to look at this game and prepare for this game the same way we have prepared for all of our other games.”

The Guards, who started the season 0-9, have been dominant in the playoffs, with the result against Cal Lutheran (25-4, Arrowhead League co-champion) their closest in the postseason. In three other wins against Lancaster Baptist, Brethren Christian and Crossroads Christian, Bell-Jeff’s average margin of victory was 30.3 points.

The Guards are back in the title game for the first time since the 2008-09 season. That year, a Bryan Camacho-coached Bell-Jeff squad defeated Santa Clara, 61-31, to take the Division V-A crown before going on to capture the state championship by knocking of Pinewood, 55-47.

A win would give the program its third CIF title, as Bell-Jeff won a championship in 1996 behind future WNBA player Jaclyn Johnson, who would later go on to coach the Guards.

In Saturday’s semifinal, Bell-Jeff received balanced scoring, with sophomore Claire Borot leading the way with 16 points, freshman Dalila Rincan adding 15 and sophomore Cosette Balmy chipping in with 10.

After a close quarter with the Guards clinging to a two-point lead, 14-12, Bell-Jeff stepped up its defense in the second period and the C-Hawks had problems with the pressure. Bell-Jeff outscored California Lutheran, 22-6, in the stanza and went into halftime with a 36-18 advantage.

“Out defense really stepped up for us,” Villa said. “But that has been a strong point for us all season long. When we play good, tough defense, our offense feeds off of that.

“When we took that lead, I think it really gave us some confidence.”

The C-Hawks played better in the third quarter, cutting the Guards’ lead to 47-32 heading into the final stanza.

“This team has really come together this season,” Villa said. “Their work ethic is phenomenal. I can not be more proud of a group of girls than I am of this team.

“They practice two times a day and they want to be in the gym getting better. This is so deserving for them.”