NorCal girls basketball roundup: Mitty stuns No. 8 St. Mary's-Stockton

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Archbishop Mitty (San Jose) girls basketball coach Sue Phillips never stopped exhorting her team.

"Forward," she kept yelling. "Look up. Attack."

Even against the fast-paced eighth-ranked team in the nation, the St. Mary's (Stockton) Rams.

Even with her starting point guard Vanessa Garner out with a knee injury.

Even with this CIF State North Region Division II title game on the line, tied at 51-51 in the final 30 seconds at Power Balance Pavilion.

Courtney Lisowski, who had earlier made a couple of ill-advised passes, decided to go for broke while dribbling up the left flank right in front of Phillips. Down the middle of the court sprinted Kelli Hayes and Lisowski lofted a perfect pass that the star sophomore caught and laid softly off the glass for the game-winning layup with 25.9 seconds remaining.

Mitty would prevail 53-51 to claim its ninth regional title.

St. Mary's (30-4) had three more chances and a last-second layup by Brijanee Moore went through the nets, but it was just after the final horn, ending a three-year state championship reign and a 30-game playoff win streak.

Mitty, which got 23 points from Hayes and 12 points and 12 rebounds by Amanda Lovely, escaped with the emotional and hard-fought victory.

"That pass was surreal," Hayes said of Lisowski's gem. "I was cutting down the middle and it was 50-50 whether she could get the pass there. We always try to be the aggressor. No matter what time of the game it is."

The Monarchs (27-5) clawed back into the game thanks largely to a tenacious, switching defense that allowed just 31 percent shooting (17 of 55), and aggressive board work (51 rebounds to 32), to shock the Rams, who had only one player score in double figures - sophomore Charise Holloway with 11 points.

St. Mary's came in No. 8 nationally by the MaxPreps Freeman computer rankings. The loss broke a 27-game win streak. Mitty held high-scoring Courtney Range to just eight points along with 13 rebounds.

"We missed probably 15 layups we normally make," St. Mary's coach Tom Gonsalves said. "We had good looks. We just didn't convert. But give Mitty credit. They did a good job."

Mitty 53, St. Mary's 51

MITTY (27-5)

Emily Dinger 2-14 0-1 6, Amanda Lovely 5-7 1-2 12, Kelli Hayes 6-15 10-12 23, Kalyn Simon 2-14 2-4 6, D'Andree Galipeau 2-2 0-2 4, Courtney Lisowski 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 18-54 13-21 53.

ST. MARY'S (30-4)

Regina Camera 2-8 1-2 7, Onome Jemerigbe 2-9 3-4 7, Courtney Range 4-16 0-0 8, Unique Coleman 1-7 1-2 3, Charise Holloway 3-6 4-6 11, Jessie Viss 1-2 0-0 3, Lauren Fisher 1-1 0-0 3, Brijanee Moore 3-5 2-3 9. Lexi Campbell 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 17-55 11-17 51.

Mitty         8   21  10  14  -  53
St. Mary's 11 21  11    8  -  51

3-point goals: Mitty 4-15 (Dinger 2, Lovely, Hayes), St. Mary's 6-22 (Camera 2, Holloway, Viss, Fisher, Moore). Rebounds: Mitty 51 (Lovely 12), St. Mary's 32 (Range 13). Turnovers: Mitty 27, St. Mary's 16.

Division I
Berkeley 56, Kennedy (Sacramento, Calif.) 38

The top-seeded Yellowjackets (29-2) won their record 11th regional as Arizona State-bound Elisha Davis made four NBA-range 3-pointers and scored 17 points and Desire Finnie and Rachel Howard added 13 points apiece.

Davis swished three of the 3s in the first quarter drawing giving Berkeley an 18-10 lead it would never relinquish.

Howard also had a game-high 12 rebounds and Davis a game-high four assists.

Kennedy (26-9), playing in its four regional got 19 points and 11 rebounds from Lynette Johnson.

Berkeley now gets a rematch with Mater Dei in the state finals. Mater Dei defeated Long Beach Poly in the Southern Region final. Last year the Monarchs defeated Berkeley 59-47. That Berkeley was blessed with plenty of brawn, including two post players who earned scholarships to San Diego State.

This season the Yellowjackets are small - they don't have a 6-footer - and rely on quickness and defense, as they displayed against Kennedy, which made just 32 percent of its shots (13 of 40). Despite its lack of size, Berkeley outrebounded Kennedy 38-28.

Berkeley will need more of that against Mater Dei if it expects to win its first state title since 1997.

"We're all small," said Davis, who stands just 5-foot-5. "If you want it more, you have to play defense, and if you want it more you have to move your feet."

Berkeley 56, Kennedy 38

KENNEDY (26-9)
Lori Wong 3-10 1-2 8, Amayala Greer 1-2 0-0 2, Mele Kolokihakaufisi 2-9 0-0 4, Jessica Lauderdale 2-5 0-3 5, Lynette Johnson 5-13 8-10 19. Totals 13-40 9-15 38.

BERKELEY (29-2)
Desire Finnie 5-10 3-6 13, Rachel Howard 6-11 1-2 13, Jasmin Guinn 1-4 0-3 2, Elisha Davis 5-11 3-5 17, Garysha Youngblood 4-11 0-0 8, Janee Gooden 1-5 1-2 3. Totals 22-52 8-18 56.

Kennedy  10   6  14   8   - 38
Berkeley  18  14   8  16  - 56

3-point goals: Kennedy 3-12 (Wong, Lauderdale, Johnson), Berkeley 4-11 (Davis 4). Rebounds: Kennedy 28 (Johnson 11), Berkeley 38 (Howard 12). Turnovers: Kennedy 18, Berkeley 15.
Division III
Bishop O'Dowd (Oakland) 70, Miramonte (Orinda) 51

It's hard to beat a good team decisively two times. Especially when that team was 31-0 in all other games.

But Bishop O'Dowd (29-3) is special. Besides the terrific low block play of 6-4 Oderah Chidom (24 points, 15 rebounds), 6-3 Kendall Waters (eight points, nine rebounds) and 6-4 Breanna Brown (10 points, nine rebounds), the Dragons have terrific guards as it showed en route to its second straight title.

The best of O'Dowd's guards was freshman Aisha Thomas with 13 points.

Miramonte, which led once at 8-7, was led by Devon McDonald with 13 points. The Matadors, much like its North Coast Section title loss to O'Dowd two weeks ago, was beaten badly on the boards, 50-24.

But that was to be expected.

O'Dowd, which lost in last year's state finals, committed 28 turnovers but made up for it with play in the paint. The 70 points was a Division 3 record. The Dragons shot a sizzling 56 percent to 29 percent for Miramonte.

Bishop O'Dowd 70, Miramonte 51

BISHOP O'DOWD (29-3)
Aisha Thomas 5-10 1-2 13, Ariell Bostick 4-6 0-0 9, Aisia Robertson 1-6 0-0 2, Randi Jackson 0-3 0-0 2, Margaret Huntington 1-2 0-2 2, Oderah Chidom 11-14 2-4 24, Breanna Brown 5-7 0-0 10, Kendall Waters 4-6 0-0 8. Totals 32-57 3-8 70.

MIRAMONTE (31-2)
Taylor Kizziee 3-12 1-2 8, Megan Reid 3-10 0-0 8, Devon McDonald 5-12 2-2 13, Allison Miller 0-1 1-2 1, Kaitlin Fenn 1-1 0-0 3, Kacey Sorenson 1-1 0-0 2, Carly Gill 3-11 0-1 8, Breanna Alford 0-5 0-0 0, Janine Loutzenhiser 2-8 2-2 8. Totals 18-61 6-9 51.

Bishop O'Dowd  17  20  19  14  -  70
Miramonte           8   14  20   9  - 51
3-point goals: BOD (3-8 (Thomas 2, Bostick), Miramonte 9-26 (Gill 2, Loutzenhiser 2, Reid 2, Kizziee, McDonald, Fenn). Rebounds: BOD 50 (Chidom 15), Miramonte 24 (Reid 6). Assists: BOD 17 (Bostick 6), Miramonte 2. Turnovers: BOD 28, Miramonte 20.

Division IV
Salesian (Richmond) 47, St. Mary's (Berkeley) 44

Mariya Moore nearly posted a triple double for the Salesian Pride, but it was her one steal that sealed the win  against rival St. Marys.

Minutes earlier, Moore tied the game with her assist to Alana Horton on the fast break with 1:37 remaining.

Then in the waning seconds, Moore drove to the basket and was fouled. Her two free throws with seven seconds left gave Salesian a 46-44 lead, but St. Mary's still had a chance.

However Moore stepped in front of the inbounds pass for the steal. She was fouled and converted one free throw. St. Mary's guard Mikayla Cowling's desperation halfcourt heave at the buzzer hit the back of the rim and bounced away leaving Salesian with it's first NorCal Regional championship.

"We set a goal at the beginning of the season to reach the NorCals," said Salesian coach Stephen Pezzola. "And then we figured since we are here, we might as well win them all."

Moore was a big reason for the win. Besides scoring a team-high 13 points, she also had 16 rebounds and six assists.

"it's nice to have a player with the ability to take over a game when needed," said Pezzola. "But she's also able to make all of the players around her better, too."

Salesian (31-4) had lost to St. Mary's twice in Bayshore League play but it defeated the Panthers (26-8) in the North Coast Section finals.

Cowling led the Panthers with 13 points while MaAne' Mosley had 12 for Salesian. Salesian did a superb job of guarding one of the nation's top sophomores Gabby Green, who finished with just six points and eight rebounds. St. Mary's didn't help itself by going just 6-for-16 at the foul line, while Salesian was 13 of 17.

Salesian 47, St. Mary's 44

ST. MARY'S (26-8)
Savanna Negron 1-2 1-2 3, Mikayla Cowling 6-13 0-0 13, Kwele Serrell 3-8 3-4 9, Elexis Goodwin 2-2 1-4 5, Gabby Green 3-14 0-1 6, Shannon Mauldin 3-8 1-5 8. Totals 18-49 6-16 44.

SALESIAN (31-4)
Kian McNair 1-6 0-0 2, Mariya Moore 3-9 7-11 13, Alana Horton 3-5 1-1 7, Mariah Williams 2-5 1-1 5, MaAne' Mosley 5-12 2-2 12, Michelle Brown 1-3 0-0 2, Deja Stallworth 2-3 2-2 6. Totals 17-45 13-17 44.

St. Mary's   9  8  14  13  -  44
Salesian    14 7  13  13  - 47

3-point shooting: St. Mary's 2-14 (Cowling, Mauldin), Salesian 0-5. Rebounding: St. Mary's 28 (Green 8), Salesian 38 (Moore 16). Turnovers: St. Mary's 12, Salesian 21.

Division V
Brookside Christian (Stockton) 55, Eastside College Prep (East Palo Alto) 38

Eastside College Prep was unable to tame the three-point shooting of the Brookside Christian Knights, who converted eight three-pointers en route to a 55-38 win in the NorCal Regional Division V championship game in Folsom.

Brianna Smith had three 3-pointers and teammates Tiara Tucker and Ariana Vaughn each hit two to key a 32-19 run over the second and third periods for the Knights (29-4). The Panthers managed only one three-pointer on the night.

Eastside College Prep (17-14) outrebounded the Knights 44-27 but also had 30 turnovers while shooting just 33 percent for the game.

Panther  junior center Hashima Carothers led Eastside College Prep with 13 points while Alexus Simon had 10.

Smith had 18 points and Tucker had 15 for Brookside Christian, which was making its first appearance in a NorCal Regional final. The Knights will play Mission Prep next week in the CIF State Division V championship game in Sacramento.


Brookside Christian 55, Eastside Prep 38

EASTSIDE PREP (17-14)
Charmei 0-3 1-2 1, Destiny Graham 1-1 0-0 2, Corine Forward 0-0 1-2 1, Kimberly Leu 2-5 0-0 4, Chaci Cunningham 2-6 2-4 7, Alexus Simon 3-6 4-4 10, Hashim Carouthers 6-17 1-2 13. Totals 14-43 9-16 38.

BROOKSIDE CHRISTIAN (29-4)
Rauline Martinez 0-4 4-4 4, Erica Houston 1-3 0-0 2, Breanna Grigsby 1-5 1-4 3, Ra'kyrca Gabriel 2-7 0-2 5, Brianna Smith 6-11 3-4 18, Tiara Tucker 6-12 1-2 15, Ariana Vaughn 2-5 2-4 8. Totals 18-49 11-20 55.

3-point goals: Eastside Prep 1-6 (Cunningham), Brookside Christian 8-21 (Smith 3, Tucker 2, Vaughn 2, Gabriel). Rebounds: Eastside Prep 44 (Carothers 16), Brookside Christian 27 (Gabriel 5). Turnovers: Eastside Prep 30, Brookside Christian 17.