There is one time-honored way to defeat a zone defense and that's deadly outside shooting.
Archbishop Mitty backup guard Jahnay Anderson supplied that in a 52-37 victory Wednesday night against Wilcox at Oak Grove High. The victory sends the Monarchs (23-6) into the Central Coast Section Open Division title game at 6 p.m. Saturday at Santa Clara University against St. Francis.
Down 16-14 at halftime, Mitty got four three-pointers in the third quarter from Anderson en route to a 19-point offensive output for the Monarchs and a 35-26 lead heading into the fourth. Wilcox (23-3) never recovered.
"My team really got me the ball," said Anderson who scored a game-high 18 points. "They were looking for me."
Anderson agreed the basket started looking bigger once she made a few shots.
"I started getting more comfortable and I felt like I needed to shoot the ball more," she said.
Added Mitty coach Sue Phillips: "We set some screens for her and Jahnay is a good shooter. Against Highlands Ranch she made seven three-pointers. In the WCAL people are pretty familiar with Jahnay so she doesn't get a whole lot of opportunities. But sometimes when we play a team the first time and they're not that familiar with Jahnay, she can get loose."
Clinging to a 36-28 lead early in the fourth quarter, Mitty got six consecutive points from Kelli Hayes (11 points overall) to roar out to a 42-28 lead with 5:33 left and Mitty was on its way to the title game.
The first half was a different story as Wilcox's big junior center Joeseta Fatuesi and forward D'airrien Jackson carried the Charger offense to a two-point halftime advantage. Fatuesi showed good hands and a soft touch around the basket and used her body well to create space.
"Twenty-five (Jackson) and 33 (Fatuesi) had 14 of their 16 points," Phillips said. "We had to put some emphasis on stopping them. And unofficially I think we didn't have a turnover in the second half and that made us more efficient on offense."
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John Murphy may be reached at jmurphy@Prep2Prep.com.
