Jaguars hold on in thriller against Trojans
Pina, Youngblood and Ferrer guide Bethel to first-round win over Petaluma
North Coast Section officials who made the Division II bracket for girls basketball looked like geniuses on Tuesday night.
Jesse Bethel and Petaluma high schools represented the classic No. 8 vs. 9 matchup and the two teams were as evenly matched as Siamese twins. The Jaguars were athletic and defensive minded and the Trojans featured a slew of talented 3-point shooters and excellent presence under the boards.
Not surprisingly for Bethel, it took some defensive stops to pull this one out as the host Jaguars prevailed 46-44 in the first round of the postseason. The Jaguars (19-9) advance to Friday’s second round to take on top-seeded Alameda.
Senior guard Jhrriuha Pina hit the go-ahead bucket with 1:04 left in the fourth quarter after completing a three-point play. Pina then added the final margin of victory, hitting one of two at the foul line with 7.4 seconds left.
“Jhirriuha is going give you everything she has,” Bethel head coach Paul Davis said. “She was really supposed to be playing varsity all four years, but she wasn’t mentally ready. Her senior year she has really put it all together. Anybody at the next level would be lucky to have her.”
Pina finished with six of her 14 points in the fourth quarter and the guard led the defensive
“Jhirriuha is going give you everything she has.”
— Paul Davis, Bethel head coach.
effort as Petaluma could not handle Bethel’s pressure in the second and third quarters. Sophomore Nikkea Youngblood led the Jaguars with 16 of her 18 points in the first half and added seven boards. Senior guard Merriel Ferrer made a huge impact with nine of her 11 points in the second half.
Petaluma (18-8) was the hotter team to start the game. Bethel trailed just 7-6 early but an inside shot from Sheriene Arikat sparked a 10-3 spurt to finish the quarter to lead 179. Arikat had seven points in the period and finished with a team-high 16 points and 10 boards although Bethel shut her out in the second and third quarters.
The Jaguars scored six straight points to open the second quarter to cut the lead to 17-15 with Pina finishing off the run with a steal and layup.
“It was just a team effort (defensively),” Pina said. “We came out working hard, we just kind of fell off but then we put it together.”
Youngblood agreed with her teammate.
“We called a timeout and our coach told us that we had dug ourselves a hole and to dig ourselves out,” Youngblood said.
The game stayed close throughout the second quarter and the Jaguars finally grabbed the lead at 2725 when Youngblood nailed a 3-pointer from the top of the key with 16 seconds left. Petaluma, however, nabbed the lead right back when Paris Buchanan answered with a long ball just before the buzzer sounded as the Trojans took a 28-27 lead into the locker room.
The third quarter was the definition of low-scoring as Bethel hit just three buckets but limited Petaluma to just one and the Jaguars led 33-30 heading into the final 8 minutes.
Ferrer had all six points for Bethel in the quarter.
“She could be one of our top scorers but she’s just a very unselfish player,” Davis said. “We wanted her to shoot more, but she has to kind of pick and choose. Tonight, she was playing like there was no tomorrow.”
Bethel then looked for the knockout punch, as Ferrer hit a 3, Gabriella Pasami hit a shot in the lane and Youngblood had a steal and layup as the Jaguars stretched the lead to 40-33, forcing a Petaluma timeout.
The Trojans never went away though. A 3-pointer from Arikat ignited a 12-2 run. Arikat hit a jumper to tie the game 40-all and then hit an inside shot to put Petaluma up 44-42 with 2:12 left.
The next possession was crucial and Pina did not disappoint and she drove the lane and hit a shot in traffic while absorbing a foul. She calmly hit the foul shot to put her team up for good.
Petaluma had two final possessions to try and hit the game-winning shot but Bethel’s defense held tight.