What made the Bonita Vista High School girls basketball team’s 62-54 loss to top-seeded Imperial in last Saturday’s San Diego Section Division II championship game particularly hard to swallow was that the Lady Barons had victory within their grasp.
After trailing 16-8 at the end of the first quarter, second-seeded Bonita Vista (19-10) outscored Imperial (28-3) 25-11 in the second quarter to assume a 33-27 halftime lead. The Lady Barons led by as many as seven points late in the second quarter.
But Bonita Vista, making its first appearance in the CIF finals since 2008, could not maintain its momentum in the second half.
The Lady Barons got off to a good start in the third quarter by building three six-point leads. But three successive field goals by the Lady Tigers tied the score, 39-39, by the midway mark of the quarter.
A jumper by BV senior Carol Schroeder put the Lady Barons back in front, 41-39, with 3:20 to play in the quarter and two more points by Daeshya Battle extended the lead to 43-39. But Imperial caught fire at that point and the Lady Barons could not keep up.
The Lady Tigers sank free throws (lots of them) and dominated in rebounding under the basket. Also, Bonita Vista shots bounced off the rim or missed the hoop entirely.
Particular of the change in fortune: a three-point attempt by Alexis Lopez went in and out of the basket at the buzzer to end the third quarter. Instead of a potential 46-44 Lady Baron lead, Imperial took a 44-43 lead into the final quarter.
Overall, there were 11 lead changes in the game. Bonita Vista did its best to claw back into contention as Schroeder and teammate Shyla LaTone reversed the Lady Tigers’ lead on three occasions to start the fourth quarter.
The Lady Barons led, 50-48, with 4:49 to play.
Imperial’s Khiya Mohammed took control of the contest from there and Bonita Vista clearly had no answer for her down the stretch run.
Mohammed hit a pair of key field goals to put her team up 53-50. The Lady Tigers capitalized at the charity stripe as the Lady Barons sank into deep foul trouble.
Still, Bonita Vista had a chance before experiencing a complete meltdown in the final minute.
The Lady Barons were within a pair of treys, trailing 56-50, before Mohammed scored on a breakaway pass with 1:05 to play.
58-50 Imperial.
Unforced errors proved critical for the Lady Barons throughout the second half, but particularly in the fourth quarter.
LaTone cut the Lady Tiger lead to 59-53 on a three-point shot with 37.3 seconds left. But Imperial promptly went back to feast at the free throw line.
The game ended, perhaps appropriately, with Mohammed grabbing a rebound.
Mohammed proved to be a one-woman wrecking crew with a game-high 33 points, 14 rebounds and four blocks.
“We tried to put ball pressure their guards to prevent them from the getting the ball to Mohammed,” BVHS head coach Wayne Wooten explained. “We just couldn’t put the ball in the basket. It was frustrating because these are shots we normally make.”
It proved to be a tale of two halves for the Lady Barons. Bonita Vista shot 40 percent from the floor in the first half but only 25.8 percent in the second half. Bonita Vista sank three of eight three-point shots in the first half but was one-for-eight in the second half.
The most telling statistic in the defeat came in free throw efficiency. Bonita Vista shot 85.7 percent from the line in the first half and just 44.4 percent in the second half.
Schroeder led her team with 23 points and 10 rebounds while LaTone dropped in 15 points. Brooklyn Valdez had six points while Battle had four points, Alyssa Ricassa had three points and Korrina McCoy had two points. Lopez sank one free throw in the game.
Bonita Vista finished 4-4 in Metro-Mesa League play, placing behind league co-champions Eastlake and Mater Dei Catholic (both with 7-1 records).
“We were in a tough league,” Wooten said. “That prepared us to go far in the playoffs. But you got to give it to Imperial: they stuck to their game plan.”
This was the Lady Barons’ second setback to the Lady Tigers this season. Previously, Imperial grabbed a 70-68 win in overtime in a non-league regular season game.
Lady Lancers finish second in CIF D-III finals
Hilltop High School won the first San Diego Section Class 2A girls basketball championship in 1975. It took 41 years for the Lady Lancers to make a return trip to the division finals and, while last Saturday’s 56-48 loss to top-seeded Mira Mesa at the University of San Diego’s Jenny Craig Pavilion might not have been satisfying, Hilltop’s 2015-16 squad has to appreciate its place in history.
“That’s about right,” Lady Lancer head coach Ray Jindra said in regard to the significance of his team returning to the finals after four decades.
Second-seeded Hilltop (22-6) never led at the end of each quarter of last Saturday’s championship game. The Lady Marauders (19-13) led 12-7 at the end of the first quarter and 27-22 at halftime.
Hilltop, which entered the game riding the momentum of a marathon 17-game winning streak, couldn’t generate much momentum. The reigning Metro-Pacific League champions fell behind further in the third quarter as Mira Mesa claimed an 18-11 scoring edge.
The Lady Marauders led 45-33 entering the final quarter, but the Lady Lancers ended the game on a prideful note as they out-scored Mira Mesa 15-11 to narrow the final score to eight points.
“The bottom line is that we got into foul trouble and our turnovers killed us,” Jindra explained. “We actually made more baskets than they did.”
The Hilltop coach was correct in making that statement. The Lady Lancers made 17 field goals compared to 15 for the Lady Marauders. Mira Mesa sank 18 points on free throws to 14 for Hilltop.
Two even more telling statistics came in rebounding and three-point shooting. The Lady Marauders won the battle of the boards 53-39 and dropped in eight three-point bombs to zero for the Lady Lancers.
If there was some consolation, Hilltop’s Bree Gafare led all scorers in the game with 20 points while older sister Brittany Gafare had 10 points. Aislinn Arias had six points while Monica Arvizu had four points. A quartet of Lady Lancers scored two points: Anissa Tolbert, Asia Tarango, Alejandra Zavala and Montserrate Guzman.
Bree Garafe also had three assists and six blocked shots while Arvizu had three steals.
Arabella Norriss starred for Mira Mesa with 19 points, 19 rebounds and four assists.
SAN DIEGO SECTION
BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIPS
Boys Division III: (5) Bonita Vista 59, (3) Madison 44
Girls Division I: (1) Eastlake 43, (3) La Costa Canyon 23
Girls Division II: (1) Imperial 62, (2) Bonita Vista 54
Girls Division III: (1) Mira Mesa 56, (20 Hilltop 48
