Just prior to the start of the second half of Friday’s Metro-Pacific League girls basketball game at Hilltop High School, veteran Lancer coach Ray Jindra offered his team some sound words of advice. “Defense wins games,” he said.
Free-throws also win games, as Hilltop discovered in a 33-30 loss to the visiting Chula Vista Spartans.
Chula Vista made its last five three-throw shots to recover from a 29-28 deficit in the final 2:08 of the game. Hilltop had led throughout the contest before sputtering at the end.
Maria Tinajero sank a pair of shots from the charity stripe to push her team to a 30-29 lead; the Lancers then dropped in a shot on a technical foul to place the teams in a 30-30 tie on the scoreboard.
Samantha Miranda dropped in one foul shot with 17.9 seconds to play to push the visitors to a one-point lead 31-30.
Chula Vista’s Breanna Morales then iced the contest with a pair of foul shots with 1.4 seconds to play.
The Spartans improved to 2-0 in league play 9-14 overall, while Hilltop dropped to 1-1 in league play, 10-10 overall.
Prior to the dramatic finish, Chula Vista couldn’t buy a free-throw shot. Tinajero missed four shots and teammate Tatyana Pablo also came up empty on two shots from the charity stripe to tip off play in the fourth quarter.
“This team has been challenged all season long,” CVHS coach John DeJesus explained. “Toward the end, this teams plays up to the challenge. The team buckled down when it mattered most.”
Julia Chambers led the Spartans with 11 points while Brittany Gafare scored 11 points for Hilltop.
“If we had won this game, I think we would have been in the driver’s seat (for league play),” Jindra said. “But we’ve had injuries. We played with only seven girls tonight. We played pretty good, but not good enough. Free-throws hurt us. We missed some critical fee-throws.”
The Spartans made 11 of 17 free-throws in Friday’s contest while the Lancers made seven of 16 foul shots.
DeJesus said the win was critical for his team’s playoff chances. “We’ve got to win our next four games to win league and make sure we qualify as a league champion for the CIF playoffs,” the CVHS coach said. “Each game is going to be a challenge because the league is pretty even this year.”
Hilltop defeated visiting Castle Park, 49-37, on Wednesday to tip off league play while Chula Vista sank visiting Sweetwater, 46-38, in its opener.
