COUGARS' REVENGE
Final score: Carondelet (Concord, Calif.) 60, Monte Vista (Danville) 50
Players of the Game: Ricki Radanovich (C) 19 points, 5 3-pointers; Niveen Rasheed (MV) 24 points.
Key spurt: A Carondelet 8-3 run midway through the second quarter gave the Cougars the lead for good.
Key stat: Monte Vista 25 turnovers, 31 percent shooting
State ranking: Carondelet No. 9, Monte Vista No. 13
Video/interviews from game: Click here.
By Mitch Stephens
MaxPreps.com
CONCORD, Calif. — Ricki Radanovich’s ankle has been hurting a lot lately. She sprained it badly three weeks ago and even though the Carondelet junior sharpshooter has been back in the starting lineup, she’s struggled.
“Honestly, I haven’t been on lately,” Radanovich said.
Radanovich and the Cougars were all on Friday night. On fire, that is.
Their new arch-rival Monte Vista (Danville), the team that ruined their near perfect season with a humbling 11-point loss three weeks ago, was in Carondelet’s house for a showdown of state powers.
“There was a lot of adrenalin,” Radanovich said. “I definitely wasn’t thinking about my ankle.”
Radanovich just “let my shots go” and most of them went down as did Monte Vista 60-50 in a fierce East Bay Athletic League tussle.
She drilled five three-pointers and scored a team high 19 points and talented freshman backcourt mate Hannah Huffman added 11 as the Cougars (21-3, 11-1 EBAL) avenged a 53-42 defeat at Monte Vista on Jan. 21.
Carondelet also got nine points apiece from Erin Boettcher, Hilary Rosette and Erica Payne to help offset the simply marvelous one-player show by Princeton-bound Niveen Rasheed, who scored a game-high 24 points and did about everything else.
Payne, a gifted 6-1 sophomore who was forced to the bench early with three fouls, scored eight of her points in the final quarter and Radanovich drilled four of her 3-pointers in the second quarter as the Cougars eventually pulled away from the resilient but cold shooting and turnover-prone Mustangs (21-2, 11-1).
Even though it beat Carondelet earlier and had two less defeats, the Mustangs came in ranked 13th in the state according to the MaxPreps/National Guard computer-generated rankings and the Cougars were No. 9.
Payne said redemption was more than at the forefront for the home team, which fell behind by 21 points in the first half the last outing with Monte Vista.
“This was huge,” she said. “We didn’t play well at all and it’s been a dagger in my head ever since. I’ve been playing that game over and over in my head so to finally win … to prove that we can beat Monte Vista, it feels great.”
Rasheed, a 6-footer with amazing ball, shooting, driving and passing skills, said she sensed Carondelet’s intensity from the outset. She made seven of her team’s 11 baskets in the second half but the Mustangs could never quite get over the hump.
“They came out the last game just expecting to win and this game they came out with much more intensity,” she said. “Plus this is a hard gym to play in. … (The Cougars) played a great game.”
Bodies slammed to the floor and whistles stopped play constantly through a torrid first half, which featured 26 fouls, 14 on Monte Vista.
The lead changed hands eight times in the second quarter but eventually an 8-3 Carondelet run, capped by two free throws from Boettcher gave the Cougars the lead for good 29-27.
Both teams agreed the referees called the game too tight the first half — “there was no flow,” said Rasheed, who picked up her third foul with 1:24 left in the second quarter.
But with Carondelet a narrow 31-27 lead, the calls seemed about equal.
Radanovich set the tone by drilling a three-pointer to start the third and after Rasheed came back with a long two-pointer, the Mustangs went scoreless for 6:24.
The Cougars only scored five themselves during that spell — three free throws and a layup by Boettcher — but Monte Vista, which came winning by an average margin of 26, would never recover.
Mustangs’ coach Ron Hirschman said his team lost a little composure and simply panicked. Much of that, he admitted, had to do with Carondelet.
“They’re the (No. 9) team in the state – we weren’t supposed to come in here and win,” he said. “Losing by 10 at their place is no shame. I think they just wore us down. We got behind and we started to panic. (Playing from behind) really isn’t our style.”
Every time the Mustangs made a move, Carondelet had an answer.
When Dani Rabego (11 points) ended Monte Vista’s long draught with a jumper, Radanovich responded with a 3-pointer.
“I’ve played against Ricki a lot in AAU and you can’t let her get hot,” Rasheed said. “Once you get her going, she’s hard to stop.”
Radanovich opened the fourth with a 3-pointer and Rasheed came back with a driving layup. Payne responded with a layup, Rasheed answered, but once again Radanovich drilled another 3-pointer and for the first time the lead reached double-digits, 50-39.
“I got some great assists from my teammates and I just let it go,” Radanovich said.
Every time Monte Vista scored in the fourth quarter, Carondelet came right back. When Rasheed scored her fourth bucket of the quarter to cut it to 54-46 with 3:22 left, the Cougars finished it off with six straight on two lay-ups by Payne off nice feeds and two free throws by Morgan Fitterer.
Payne said it was hard to watch the first half from the bench, so she needed to make amends with strong play in the fourth quarter. Rosette did more than fill in admirably as she controlled the paint the second and third quarter.
“I needed to do something that last quarter, but honestly what I really needed to do was be a big presence on the boards and occasionally be there on offense," Payne said.
Huffman did a little of everything throughout. The rugged and fast 5-9 guard scored nine of her 11 in the first half, but she added four steals, six rebounds and generally hounded the Mustangs all night.
“Hannah Huffman is awesome,” Radanovich said. “She’s probably the most athletic girl on our team. She’s fearless out there.”
So was Rasheed for Monte Vista.
“She’s got such great ball-handling skills,” Payne said. “She’s going to find a way to get to the rack. We tried to slow her down, but she’s such a phenomenal player and tough to stop.”
If both teams win two more games next week – and there’s no reason to think they won’t – they’ll share the EBAL title. Hirschman said Carondelet would get the league’s lone automatic bid into the North Coast Section playoffs because the league’s tiebreaker is the team who wins the second game gets the nod.
Carondelet coach Margaret Gartner said her team picked a lower number than Monte Vista at a pre-league meeting so the Mustangs get the automatic bid.
Either way, both will assuredly be top seeds, Monte Vista in Division I and Carondelet in Division II.
“This was a big win and game, but it’s not our biggest,” Payne said. “We can’t be satisfied.”
Said Rasheed: “Hopefully we’ll look back on this and get mad a little bit and move forward. We’ll look at this and hopefully thing we don’t want to feel like this again.”
Carondelet 60, Monte Vista 50
MONTE VISTA (21-2, 11-1 EBAL): Niveen Rasheed 9 5-6 24, Amil Amin 3 0-1 6, Kaylie Williams 1 0-0 2, Dani Rabago 4 2-3 11, Alexandria Whalen 2 2-3 7. Totals 19 9-13 50.
CARONDELET (21-3, 11-1): Ricki Radanovich 6 2-3 19, Hannah Huffman 4 3-3 11, Erin Boettcher 3 3-3 9, Morgan Fitterer 0 2-4 2, Hilary Rosette 3 3-7 9, Alyssa Flores 1 0-0 2, Erica Payne 4 1-2 9. Totals 21 14-22 60.
3-point goals: Rasheed, Rabago, Whalen, Radanovich 5.
E-mail Mitch Stephens at mstephens@maxpreps.com.
10 Takes from Carondelet-Monte Vista
For good reason, Ron Hirschman looked at Carondelet’s roster and shook his head. “What’s scary is they are so young,” he said. Indeed, the Cougars’ deep 13-person roster features only two seniors to go along with three freshmen and five sophomores.
Huffman guarded Rasheed in spots and gave her fits with her speed and strength. We've seen freshman with equal or better skills, but what sets Huffman apart is her physicality. Many skilled ninth-grade point guards get pushed around. It's the other way around with Huffman, who made a steal, coast-to-coast drive and layup to put this one away.
It seems like the Cougars bring in phenom freshmen every year. Two years ago it was Radanovich and Boettcher. Last year it was Payne and now it’s Huffman.
I’ve heard and read much about Rasheed over the last three seasons but never seen her play. She’s better than advertised. She takes no plays off on either end and so much fun to watch in the open court. Fantastic vision. Of all her many traits on the court my personal favorite: When she knocks someone down, she offers a hand to pick them up. Young players don't recognize that beyond just being a lost art of sportsmanship, that it's a sign of utter strength.
I wouldn’t be surprised to see Rasheed lead the Mustangs all the way to the state title game – though we hear Berkeley, under new/old coach Gene Nakamura – is putting all the pieces together.
Monte Vista and Berkeley have a long history, but don’t forget about a very solid Deer Valley team who has a very special player/leader itself in Emily Allard.
Carondelet seems destined to play Oak Ridge (El Dorado Hills) in a NorCal Division II finals. The Cougars have so many weapons, are extremely deep and will simply wear every one down. They have at least five different players who can take over games. If Radanovich is drilling from outside, they are almost impossible to beat. An astute colleague Harold Abend reminded me not to forget two-time defending state champion Mitty (San Jose), which has played a tougher schedule than Carondelet or Oak Ridge. Also there is no better coach in the state than Mitty's Sue Phillips.
Good to see the Carondelet gym packed despite brother school De La Salle was playing at Monte Vista in the Bay Area boys game of the night. BTW,
De La Salle won that one 60-52.
Hirschman, who has guided the Mustangs to 20 wins just about all of his 19 seasons, said this is his more special team. “They have all the ingredients,” he said. “We’ll rebound from this loss no question. If people are talking about Carondelet winning a state title then we’re right there.”
Contra Costa Times reporter Ben Enos, one of the best early 20-something writers I've ever shared a scorer's table with, kept noting Rosette's contributions throughout. Gartner agreed: "We couldn't have won this game without her," she said. "At halftime we called her our savior."
