A crowd of hundreds of ecstatic fans rushed the floor as the last second of the clock ran down signaling the end of host Lynbrook's 39-35 win over Presentation in the CIF NorCal Division II semifinals Tuesday night.
The Vikings trailed the visitors for the majority of the game, but were able to shut down a Panther rally in the third quarter to shift the momentum.
Going into the third quarter with trailing by one point, junior Paige Song made the difference in the second half with her precise shooting. Nailing two 3-pointers in the third quarter - once to claim the lead for Lynbrook a minute in a half into the quarter 21-18 and another to extend the lead to 24-19 two minutes later - Song was effectively able to shift the tone and pace of the game for the Vikings.
Although the Panthers were able to regain the lead twice in the fourth quarter through a series of shots made by Akilah Jennings, who led the Panthers with 11 points, the Vikings stepped up their defense in time to change the momentum yet again.
Down 35-32 with 3:09 left to play, the Vikings went on a quick 5-0 rally to take the lead as sophomore Dolly Yuan scored a layup with 2:35 on the clock to cut the lead to one and senior Jackie Hudepohl converted a three-point play to make it 37-35, Lynbrook. Junior Sara Dyslin iced the game with a basket with 30 seconds left to provide the final margin of victory.
"We set the tone on defense,” said Lynbrook coach Cynthia Ting. “If our shots fall on offense, great. But the girls know that if we play good defense, we're always in a game because if they don't score and we don't score, then it's fine. But they know that our shots will fall some time. Paige made some big shots for us, everyone's got confidence in each other and everyone's learning the rolls that they need to play so when they do that, then everything gels."
Despite yet another come-from-behind victory, Song believes that the team did not perform at its full potential.
"I think today, we didn't necessarily play our best game but we never gave up and we just kept playing," Song said. "We play the best when we play together and it worked out for us in the end."
Reflecting on their season thus far, the Vikings attribute much of their success to the close bonds that the team has developed as well as the friendly home crowd that has been cheering them on.
“The girls don't want the season to be over because they don't want to not have to see each other every day,” says Ting. “That's what keeps them going; they genuinely like being around each other, they have so much fun so we want to keep winning because we want our season to keep going longer. We want to keep prolonging our season as long as possible."
"We've been really supported by the school and especially in the end when we come out, but through the season at the points where we have away games and we don't have our fans here and the whole school to support us, we rely on our team and the bond that we have together and that makes us strong. It's great to have all the support," added Dyslin. "Our team dynamics have been the most amazing that I've ever seen at this school and we bond so much and we almost spend everyday together whether it's practice or going out on trips to Berkeley or like the Palo Alto dish or anywhere."
“We're just a really strong team and we don't have any cliques or any riffs. We're just a team with all of us."
With the victory against Presentation, the Vikings advance to the CIF Division II finals against St. Francis, a familiar opponent. The Lancers knocked off Lynbrook in the CCS Open Division semifinals just a couple of weeks ago.
"We're excited,” Ting said. “The girls are super pumped because we felt like we should have done a better job with them last time and they will probably be more prepared because they've seen what we play on defense, but we're going to prepare now that we know what they can throw at us. The girls are calmer and they know that it's just business, every game is just business for them."
The players anticipate a hard-fought game.
"It's definitely going to be a really tough game because they're a good team," Song said. "But we're really prepared. We want revenge and we want to get that win.”
The teams are obviously familiar with each other, a point Lynbrook hopes to use to its advantage.
"We know going into it our trouble spots. It's kind of an advantage because we know their weak spots and how we can improve against them," Dyslin said. "We just really want to win and there's the sense of revenge and the sense of going in there as a team and playing it right."
Certainly, incentive will not be an issue.
“During practice, we've always been joking around on how we want another NorCal banner because [Lynbrook] hasn't had one in forever so we're really pumped," said Song. “We want revenge and we want to get that win.”
