Defense Anchors Title Run for Amat

SACRAMENTO — John Langston, girls’ basketball coach at Sacramento High, said it wasn’t La Puente Bishop Amat’s defense that bothered him, but his team’s lack of offensive execution. Then again, Langston didn’t have to dribble, pass or shoot.

Bishop Amat’s defense created 25 turnovers, keyed a 13-point run to open the second quarter and helped the Lancers win their second consecutive state Division III championship with a well-earned 53-39 victory at Arco Arena on Saturday.

“All season long we made our statement with defense, and the fact they didn’t get to 40 points is a good testament to our defense,” said Coach Richard Wiard, who has guided the Lancers to the state finals three years in a row.

“We won because we had good balance offensively, good inside players and some perimeter players who really stepped up to make some plays. And our depth.”

The defense of Bishop Amat (35-1) held Sacramento (32-4) to its lowest output of the season despite having 6-foot-3 Baylor-bound Jessika Bradley and 6-4 junior Vicki Baugh leading the fastbreak. They averaged 18 and 19.7 points, respectively, but scored only 16 between them Saturday as Juanise Cornell, Candice Brown and the collapsing defense helped slow them down. Baugh scored three points, all from the free-throw line after going 0 for 11 from the field.

When Baugh, Sacramento’s best ballhandler, went to the bench with her second foul 32 seconds into the second quarter and the score tied, 15-15, Bishop Amat slapped on its full-court press and reeled off 13 points from five players. Ashley Adams, a 5-9 sophomore off the bench, ignited the rally with two free throws after drawing the foul on Baugh on an offensive rebound.

Sophomore Kristen McCarthy, who missed her first five shots, scored twice in 11 seconds. That was followed by Christen Myles’ three-pointer. After a Brown free throw, Cornell went strong to the basket for a three-point play that made it 28-15 only three minutes after the rally started.

Baugh reentered, but the Dragons got no closer than six points and wore down in the fourth, making only one of 11 shots as they faced a 32-24 deficit.

Cornell, a powerful 5-11 forward headed to Colorado State, scored a game-high 16 points, and had seven rebounds and two steals.

During Cornell’s four seasons as a major contributor, the Lancers were 129-11. They won 70 of their last 71 games, including their last 30 in a row. Their only loss this season was to the top-ranked team in the state, Division II champion Fullerton Troy, 47-37.

McCarthy scored 10, Brown and Myles eight apiece for Bishop Amat.

-- Martin Henderson

Los Altos Hills Pinewood 58, Los Angeles Pacific Hills 52 -- With a 30-12 edge in offensive rebounds and after forcing 25 turnovers, the Bruins should have been celebrating a state Division V championship in girls’ basketball Saturday.

It didn’t happen because Pinewood was able to manufacture enough easy baskets to prevail, 58-52, at Arco Arena to win the Division V championship for the second consecutive season.

Pinewood (24-9) put together an 11-2 run at the end of the third quarter to open a 13-point lead, converting a series of layups off passes from point guard Sami Field-Polisso, who scored 14 points and had five assists.

Pinewood led by 16 points with four minutes left, but Pacific Hills (30-3), which had won 19 consecutive games, refused to go down quietly.

The Bruins kept applying defensive pressure and made the statement that with three freshmen as major contributors, they intend to return and win a title.

“We believe in our philosophy to run and wear teams down,” Pacific Hills Coach Tony Jimenez said. “From the summer, we’ve instilled [the idea that] we’re not going to quit. It doesn’t matter if we’re 40 up or 40 down.”

Senior center Ashleyrose Lewis scored 13 points and had 14 rebounds for Pacific Hills. Aly Geppert, a 6-2 sophomore center for Pinewood, scored 11 points and had 18 rebounds.

It was major progress for Pacific Hills from last year’s final, in which it lost to Pinewood, 61-39.

-- Eric Sondheimer