ALAMEDA, CA – The home crowd was in great spirits as their St. Joseph Notre Dame Pilots raced out to an 11-0 lead, but the team knew McClatchy had the ability to come back despite being a No. 14 seed against a No. 3 seed, and that’s exactly what the Lions did. But a couple of late turnovers cost the Sacramento powerhouse, and St. Joseph ultimately triumphed, 47-46, in Wednesday’s CIF NorCal Division I playoff first round game.
Zhane Duckett led the way with 21 points, including 10 in the second half, and five assists and five steals. Malia Mastora added 10 points, and Maila Lepolo sank a trio of three-pointers for the Pilots (28-4). Kamryn Hall paced McClatchy (23-7) with 10 points, eight rebounds, five blocks, and two each of steals and assists. Richelle Turney chipped in 11 points, and Samaya Beatty contributed 10 points and 10 boards for the Lions.
“I was encouraging my team, and telling them if we want it more, we’re gonna go get it,” Duckett remarked. “The way we play is in practice we’re never scared to go against other so I was telling them play just like you play in practice…and we’ll get this W.”
“When the going gets tough I think all the kids understand who we need to get the ball to, and let her make the play and play off of her,” St. Joseph Notre Dame coach Shawn Hipol said.
The Pilots were ahead 14-6 after one, and Sophie Nilsson buried a college-distance three-pointer at the first half buzzer to make it 27-22 in favor of the host team. It was only at the end of the third when McClatchy finally caught up, closing that quarter on a 9-0 run to start the fourth tied at 33. The Lions had a final chance to win it, but a wide pass gave way to a missed desperation three with several seconds left on the clock.
“They didn’t give up, but turnovers killed us,” McClatchy coach Jeff Ota said, adding that transition three-pointers particularly hurt.
McClatchy entered the game ranked 58th in the state by MaxPreps, and having lost to Edison in the quarterfinals of the Sac-Joaquin Section Division I playoffs, while St. Joseph Notre Dame came in riding the coattails of a NCS Division IV Championship (including a 43-piont victory in the finale) and ranked 39th in the state.
But Hipol was quick to concede that the seeding was not reflective of the parity of the teams, and it showed as McClatchy clawed its way back into the game and even took a brief lead in the first couple of minutes of the fourth.
“They’re not a 14,” Hipol stated. “They’ve got championship tradition over there. It was exactly like we expected, it’s probably going to come down to the last quarter if both teams are playing at their level and it’s just going to be kind of who has the ball last and makes a play.”
Back-to-back three-pointers by Lepolo and Duckett erased the Lions’ advantage, but Nia Lowery netted a pair of free throws with 48 seconds to go, after Duckett had converted four of her own, to create what would prove to be the final score.
The Lions intercepted a Pilots pass at midcourt, but a fast break fizzled out on a mishandled reception on the fast break. After Mastora missed the front end of a one-and-one, McClatchy called timeout to set up the last play. A cross-court pass was just barely corralled by Kayla Fermil, who then launched a potential game-winner. The Pilots corralled the miss, and were able to keep their opponents from grabbing the ball on the inbounds and time expired on a loose ball.
“That should have been a drive,” Ota said about the final play. “We tried to run a fade…you have to read it and take what they give you.”
Lowery finished with nine points for the Lions. Nilsson tallied five points, six rebounds, three blocks, and two steals. She went down late with an injury but is likely to return for the team’s contest on Saturday, when the Pilots host No. 11 Saint Francis at 6 p.m.
