Okowi was unstoppable in Bulldogs’ clincher

OAKLAND » After the Oakland Tech girls finished cutting down a net following a 5741 victory over Clovis, Rakyha Reid took the nylon and placed it around teammate Stephanie Okowi’s neck.

It was an appropriate gesture since Okowi put the team on her shoulders Tuesday night. The 5-foot-11 senior captain tied a career-high with 28 points, and she also grabbed 15 rebounds and blocked five shots as Tech won the California Interscholastic Federation Northern California Division II title.

Last season, Tech won the CIF Division IV state title 55-27 over Northview-covina. Okowi set a Division IV finals record with 24 rebounds in the victory.

“I’m very happy right now, I’m very excited,” said Okowi.

Okowi was practically unstoppable inside the paint, with powerful moves both facing the basket and with her back to the hoop.

“She’s athletic, she’s quick, she can dribble,” Oakland Tech coach Leroy Hurt said. “I just ask her to do the little things to make our team successful. She can do it all.”

Okowi also had two assists and two steals, and was pivotal in Tech’s defensive lock on Clovis, which only scored 15 points in the first half.

“The key was defending them, making them make multiple passes,” Hurt said. “We did a great job taking away the shooter, No. 3 (Chloe Van Ness). I think she had four shots.”

Oakland Tech, the No. 1 seed, received 11 points from 5-foot-4 freshman dynamo Mari Somvichian. That included a pair of 3-pointers in the second quarter that helped Tech pull away.

The Bulldogs only trailed once in the game, at 2-0. Then they ran off 11 straight points, including eight by Okowi, who finished with 10 in the first quarter.