The upside for Wilcox High is its girls basketball team returns all five starters next season and its fire-alarm system works really well.
The bad news is the No. 2-seeded Chargers fell 49-32 to No. 10 Oak Ridge of El Dorado Hills on Saturday night in the Division I NorCal Regionals at Wilcox.
After the game, the fire alarm sounded loudly and droned on for about 15 minutes as fans gathered outside while a school official hustled off to turn off the alarm and alert the fire department there was no emergency.
Inside the gym, it was Oak Ridge's Ali Bettencourt who heated things up with a 27-point effort.
"Ali can light it up," Oak Ridge coach Stephen White said. "She's had a few games like this, but never in a game of this magnitude."
Wilcox (23-5) got good production from junior 6-foot-2 center Joeseta Fatuesi (24 points) to take a 19-16 lead into the second half. Once again, she used her size and nimble moves around the basket to dominate for two-plus quarters.
"She's very tough," Oak Ridge coach White said. "She has good size and she's agile and can take it to the rack. She can shoot outside as well and she's a nice kid and that's cool, too."
Still tied 21-21 with 4:06 left in the third quarter, Wilcox watched the Trojans go on 10-2 run to take control of the game, with Jenn Hoffman making two 3-pointers during the span and Bettencourt tossing in another.
The Trojans led 35-28 entering the fourth quarter and then left Wilcox in the dust with a 7-0 run in the first 4 1/2 minutes of the final stanza. There was no catching the San Joaquin Section team.
Oak Ridge (28-4) pressed the Chargers full court during the second half, appearing to wear them down and paid Fatuesi extra attention. And when Wilcox did break the press, high-percentage shots were often missed.
"They adjusted their defense," said Fatuesi who has a host of Division I schools already pursuing her. "They started double-teaming me."
Said Wilcox coach Kevin White: "I just thought (Oak Ridge) was so well-prepared. I was out-coached. They shot well and executed their game plan. We missed some shots that we normally make and I think that hurt, especially early in the game."
Still, it was a season in which the Chargers tied Lynbrook for the league title, and with an all-underclassmen starting five. Next season that line-up returns intact, including Fatuesi who only figures to get better as schools such as Utah, Hawaii and Arizona State continue to watch her.
"It was a great season," Kevin White said. "We were the best CCS team in Division I. We would have had a CCS championship had we not been moved up (to the Open Division). We played pretty well in the Open Division and looking back, I'll enjoy that. Looking back at where the girls were from Day 1 to where they are now, we improved a lot. And we started four juniors and a sophomore."
For Oak Ridge, Hoffman backed Bettencourt in scoring with 11 points.
While Wilcox's season has ended, Oak Ridge advances to meet Heritage (27-5) of Brentwood on Tuesday in the semifinals. Heritage already owns a victory against the Trojans this season, defeating them 55-36 Jan. 26 in the Campolindo Shootout.
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John Murphy can be reached at jmurphy@Prep2Prep.com.
