Pinewood tops Mitty in 3 OTs
Doc Scheppler has won nearly 600 games, six state championships and plenty of praise for his ability to get the most out of smaller, non-scholarship players.
He hasn’t had a better win — a better moment — than Pinewood’s 78-67 triple-overtime Open Division Northern California championship victory over Mitty-San Jose before a jammed Leavey Center on Saturday.
The third-seeded Panthers (27-2), coming off a monumental win at the nation’s fifth-ranked team, St. Mary’s-Stockton, on Tuesday, fought back from a 16-point third-quarter deficit to shock the nation’s No. 1 and previously undefeated team.
After two breathtaking overtime periods, in which each team seemed to have the game locked, Pinewood, with a short bench and some longrange shooters, outscored the depleted Monarchs (29-1), outscoring them 13-2 to roll into next week’s state-title game at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento against Windward-Los Angeles.
Kaitlyn Leung (14 points) started the third overtime with a threepointer, and after two Mitty free throws, Brianna Claros (20 points, five assists), a tireless 5-foot-3 senior guard, scored back-to-back buckets. Pinewood lost to the Monarchs two weeks ago by 14 points in the Central Coast Section final.
Hannah Jump, a 5-10 junior committed to Stanford, led the way with 24 points and nine rebounds. She made back-to-back three-pointers to start the second overtime and made 6 of 11 three-point tries.
Mitty, which played the final 14 minutes without junior All-America Haley Jones (17 points, 10 rebounds in 24 minutes), seemed to run out of gas.
Down 16 in the third, Scheppler did not lose hope.
“Sixteen points for these girls is nothing,” he said. “The heart, the grit, the resilience of this team to beat a team like that. What a great win. An amazing win. … Considering our opponent in this kind of setting, yes, the best I’ve ever experienced.”
Mitty coach Sue Phillips, the Naismith National Coach of the Year, also said it was one of the greatest games she’s been a part of. Though greatly disappointed with the result for a second straight year — the Monarchs lost in the state final last year — she was proud of how her team played.
Pinewood “did a great job blocking out, they shot the ball better than we did and they did a much better job of rebounding,” she said. “It’s not like we didn’t step up. Our girls stepped up.”
The Monarchs got huge efforts from freshman guard Hunter Hernandez (18 points, seven rebounds) and Penn Statesignee Karisma Ortiz (14 points, 11 rebounds).
DIVISION 1
Sacred Heart Cathedral 69, Miramonte-Orinda 48: On St. Patrick’s Day at Santa Clara, the Irish (15-14) collectively imposed their will on the smaller and less aggressive Matadors to play probably their best game of the season en route to their ninth Nor thern California title. SHC advanced to next week’s state-title game against SerraGardena. Gianna Silvestri and Yaniah Fleming scored 12 points apiece and Rainah Smith contributed nine for the Irish, who limited the Matadors to 21 percent shooting (14-for-66). Miramonte (28-6) got 11 points each from Clair Steele and Rebecca Welsh,.
OTHER DIVISIONS
Other games: Sierena Tuitele had 16 points, leading topseeded and host Pleasant Valley-Chico (25-4) to a 47-40 D3 win over third-seeded Valley Christian (16-15). … Ila Lane had 24 points and Lil Niu added 13 as host Woodside Priory (17-14) pulled out a thrilling 59-58 D4 championship win over Bradshaw Christian-Sacramento (22-13). … Fourth-seeded Lowell (19-12) won its first Northern California championship with a 48-31 victory over visiting and sixth -seeded Durham (27-6).