Late first half run by Saint Mary’s dooms Justin-Siena in playoff opener
By Kyle Foster
Twitter: @NapaKyle @NapaSportsNews
When the playoffs start, the No. 10-No.7 seed matchup is always one to watch. Every year in the NCAA Tournament, at least one 10 seed upends and 7.
So it should come as no surprise that there are times at the high school level when this same upset happens.
Unfortunately for the Justin-Siena girls’ basketball team, they saw their season come to an end as they lost to No. 10 seed Saint Mary’s-Albany 53-50 on Wednesday night.
The game got away in the second quarter when the Panthers (9-9) finished the half on a 7-0 run, which gave them a 13-point edge headed to the break. It also gave them all the momentum at the intermission. Before the run, Saint Mary’s held a 22-16 lead and it was anyone’s game.
“They went on a 7-0 run to end the first half, and I thought that really hurt us,” Justin-Siena head coach Andy Bettencourt said.
Saint Mary’s (9-9) used their full-court press, which also flustered Justin-Siena in this one. A major reason for this was their team speed, which had them flying all over the floor.
“This team is way better at pressuring than anyone we’ve played this season,” Bettencourt added. “They’re really good, and I think their speed caught us off guard as much as we practiced against it for two days. Once our girls were able to make the adjustment, I thought they did some really good things.”
The Braves (15-11) also had another recent issue reappear again – the struggle at the free-throw line where they made just 11 of 24 foul shots. A major example of this came when Saint Mary’s got a pair of technical fouls in the first quarter, but Justin-Siena made just 2 of 4 freebies.
“Free throws hurt,” Bettencourt admitted. “I don’t think they shot too well either. But no, we can’t go 11 for 24 and expect to win an NCS playoff game against a team that’s really good.”
In the fourth quarter, Justin-Siena was able to make it a three-point game after going on an 8-0 run to get back to within six points.
“Second half, I think our kids refocused,” Bettencourt explained as to what changed after a half where they scored just 16 points. “I thought we did a much better job of controlling the ball and then defensively, we changed a few things we did. But honestly, our kids just got a little more disciplined, and just really just totally made plays.”
Leading the way for Justin-Siena was Isabella Wright. She was held to just a bucket in the first half. But in the second half, she caught fire, where she scored 13 points to finish the game with 15 total points to go along with 3 rebounds. She also made 3 of 5 free throws.
“Honestly, I was just putting it all out there,” Wright said of her final game. “It was my last game and I was just like ‘I’m not gonna leave any regrets back and this last game and I was just gonna put it all out there.’”
Mary Heun finished as the second-highest scorer with 11 points, 8 coming after the break, and 3 rebounds.
“Mary was incredible, especially in the second half of just attacking I think she finally realized that she can go straight and she can,” Bettencourt said of Heun’s game. “She can go by people. She’s pretty damn good.”
Rounding out the Braves scoring was Charmaine Griffin (9 points, 7 rebounds, 1 blocked shot), Jordan Washington (5 points, 12 rebounds, 1 blocked shot), Megha Jackson (5 points, 3 rebounds), Bella Balmaceda (3 points, 1 rebound), and Cassie Richardson (2 points, 3 rebounds).
Bettencourt also believes that Saint Mary’s was a really good 10 seed and that their seeding doesn’t do them justice.
“That Saint Mary’s team is not a 10 seed,” he explained. “That is a very good basketball team. That’s one of the best teams we’ve played all year, and to be right there with them at the end is a testament to these kids.”
Though the season came to an end, this Justin-Siena team accomplished quite a bit. They won the Redwood Empire Invitation Basketball Tournament in Healdsburg and went undefeated on the road in league play this year. Plus, two years ago this group was 7-19.
“I think first and foremost, this team two years ago with four or five of these kids was seven and 19,” Bettencourt said of why this team will be remembered. “To turn it around and be third place in the league this year and nobody needs to convince me that we were third – the record says we were third. I thought that was really impressive with this group. They battled. We were 6 and 0 in league on the road, which is incredible. Three of our league losses were by one possession, two were by one point. So we battled every single game. Then winning the Healdsburg tournament, of course, was awesome, and just where I thought this group realized they could be pretty good.”
The win means Saint Mary’s will move onto the quarterfinals on Saturday night when they will visit Piedmont. To view the updated bracket, go here.
