San Diego Union-Tribune (Sunday)
POOR SHOOTING DOOMS BARONS IN D-II TITLE GAME
Central 52, Bonita Vista 42
The push was made, a swarming trap suddenly turning Bonita Vista’s Barons into the best version of themselves after the worst version took the floor for three quarters, and heads perked up at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento.
Any type of shot was like a maddening quest to find the Holy Grail, Barons coach Tristan Lamb peering at the boxscore numbers Saturday afternoon and remarking “that’s not us” at a final line of 2for-27 from the 3-point line. But even as Central (Fresno) had dominated much of Saturday’s Division II state final, Bonita stole the momentum right back in the fourth quarter with a press, forcing turnovers to cut Central’s lead to seven.
And with 1:30 left and a last gasp needed, guard Alyssa Alvarado fired a 3 from the left wing, a shot that would’ve put every ounce of pressure back on Central.
It banked off the square — and just tipped off rim. Alvarado bent over in sheer disbelief, hands on her hips, a 31 percent shooter from deep staring at an 0-for-13 mark. Central’s Vivian Moore dropped in a layup, Bonita Vista f lung another attempt off the rim, and any hope of a comeback was quashed in a 5241 loss.
“I knew my team needed me,” Alvarado said, “and it hurt not being able to help my team. That’s the main way I contribute. And it was hard to see everybody else being affected with my bad shooting.”
It wasn’t just Alvarado, a normally prolific Bonita Vista offense falling silent from the jump in a game straight from bizarro world. They were the only San Diego-area team to make the Sacramento finals, and area pride quickly fell flat against rims that shrunk, layups just a little too long and jumpers just a little too short. The first-half numbers were almost unbelievable: 14 percent from the floor, as Central’s Talia Maxwell swallowed up 14 rebounds.
“The whole time,” Lamb said, “we were saying, we’re going to find the basket, we’re going to find the basket.”
Even as Mahliya Wilson got going in the second half, Bonita Vista never quite did find that basket, putting an end to another customarily strong season from Lamb’s program.
“We were able to grind through it all,” Lamb said. “So I think this is probably one of the most successful seasons that we’ve had.”
Maxwell broke the CIF D-II state single-game record for rebounds with a stat line straight out of a simulation: 24 points, 24 boards, six blocks, eight turnovers.