ST. PATRICK-ST. VINCENT CLAIMS SECTION CROWN
Elizalde explodes for 26 points as Bruins grab first title since 2019
With 1:05 left on the clock in the fourth quarter, St. Patrick-St. Vincent High senior Marissa Elizalde exited the game and engulfed her girls basketball head coach Nadine Walker in a hug near the scorers' table. Seconds later, her four teammates came out of the game to thunderous noise from the crowd at Alhambra High.
Walker, in her final season as head coach of the St. Patrick-St. Vincent High girls basketball team, couldn't have scripted it any better.
The top-seeded Bruins blew out No. 2 University of San Francisco, 60-40, on Saturday evening in the North Coast Section Division IV championship.
Walker won her second section crown — the last one coming in 2019.
“This team, my coaching staff, they're all family, and the girls are like daughters to me,” Walker said. “To do this today, this year, especially after losing my mom just a few months ago, it's been very, very emotional, and (the players) have been amazing. They've been a second family for sure.”
Elizalde, the defending Times-Herald Female Athlete of the Year, certainly fit the description of amazing. She scored 18 of her game-high 26 points before halftime and added eight rebounds, three 3-pointers and two blocked shots.
“(University) was pretty lengthy, but we knew that coming in and had prepared for that,” Elizalde said. “But obviously, we had to make some adjustments.”
The Bruins (23-8) led just 3328 at halftime but took control with a 16-8 third quarter and a 11-4 fourth quarter.
What was the difference? “Defense,” said senior guard
Arianna Aguilar, who added 14 points. “We had to keep playing defense, and we had to get all the boards we could. It didn't matter who it was from.”
Even though Elizalde was hot from the start, so were the Red Devils (24-7). University tied the game 13-all with 1:26 left in the opening period after an inside shot from Kate Kennedy.
The Bruins, however, finished the quarter strong as Aguilar nailed a 3-pointer and Elizalde finished off a three-point play with 7.9 seconds left to give St. Pat's a 19-13 edge.
University grabbed the lead at 24-23 after a 3-pointer from Gabriella Kelley at the 4:18 mark of the second quarter. The Devils tied the game 28-all with 3:06 left after a bucket from Olivia Soenens. However, Ajani Prater set up Elizalde for a 3-pointer and then Elizalde made a scoop shot in the lane with 22 seconds left to give her team a 33-28 lead going into the locker room.
Walker talked about the halftime strategy.
“Our halftime talk was a little serious,” she said. “We just said that (University) was too close. We felt like we could have done a lot better. Our defense was not the best in the first half. We let them take some open shots. The other thing is we weren't rebounding.”
The Devils were still within 36-32 early in the third quarter, but a pullup jumper from Elizalde sparked a 14-4 run that swung the momentum in the Bruins' favor. The dagger might have come in the waning seconds as St. Pat's held for the final shot and Prater found Talissa Caragan open in the corner. The senior swished the ball through the net as the buzzer sounded to give St. Pat's a commanding 49-36 lead with eight minutes left.
Things got better for St. Pat's and worse for University in the fourth quarter. A floater from Elizalde began an 11-0 spurt that put the game out of reach. The Devils were held without points until the final minute.
Prater had a big game as well with eight points, five steals and six boards.
“She's a great facilitator,” Walker said. “She's first-team, all-league for our league as a junior. She was the only junior. Her athleticism changes what we can do. If we don't have her, we're a lot slower, and she has great instincts for the ball. She did a great job for us.”
Soenens and Kelley each finished with 10 points for the Devils.
It was quite an exclamation point for Elizalde, who started in four years of varsity play for Walker.
“In the four years, every year, she's gotten better and better,” Walker said. “The last round of playoffs, she has become a different person 1000 percent. Something has flipped in her brain to where she realized that these are her final games with this group.”
The Bruins are not done. They'll play at Colfax High at 7 p.m. on Tuesday as the No. 13 seed in the Division II bracket of NorCals.