True to its pugnacious moniker, the Sacred Heart Cathedral Fightin' Irish didn't give an inch Friday to favored Alemany of Mission Hills.
But some cold spells at bad times eventually doomed SHC in a 46-40 loss to the Warriors. The Irish setback came at Sacramento's Sleep Train Arena in the CIF-State Division III championship game and secured for the Warriors their first state title.
The Irish led 12-5 early, but went on a five-minute scoring drought to end the second quarter to trail 24-20 at halftime. The Irish cold snap lasted nearly 2 1/2 minutes into the third quarter as well as Alemany took a six-point lead.
"We just weren't putting the ball in basket," Irish coach LyRyan Russell said. "We were attacking the basket well, but our shots just weren't falling in."
SHC kept chipping away and eventually took a 34-32 lead with 5:23 left in the game on a left-handed, scoop lay-in by Kayla Coloyan that capped a 12-1 Irish run. But then SHC went cold again, getting outscored 14-6 after that.
The Irish shot just 29 percent from the field (16 of 56); Alemany was even worse, making 14 of 52 (27 percent).
The Irish out-rebounded the Warriors 46-40, but had one more turnover (19) than Alemany (18), which finished the season with a 16-game winning streak.
The Alemany victory avenged a 67-54 defeat to SHC in the 1998 Division III title game when Brian Harrigan (now coaching St. Francis of Mountain View) was guiding the Irish.
"There were a few plays where we had mis-communication that led to easy baskets for them," Russell said of the final 5 1/2 minutes. "But Alemany was a solid team and we battled. It's not like we lost by a lot. We came back and tied the game and led and it was a battle, like you'd expect from a state championship game."
The loss caps a season of mostly peaks for SHC (25-7) during which it finished first in the West Catholic Athletic League regular season, fell to Archbishop Mitty in the league playoff title game and then won the NorCal regionals at American Canyon High with a blowout victory against rival St. Ignatius.
But Alemany (32-5) was a different matter for the Irish who had to contend with 5-foot-9 senior guard Leslie Lopez Wood (game-high 16 points) and 6-1 junior forward Hannah Johnson (12 points, 11 rebounds).
The Warriors were all smiles in the post-game press conference.
"This is a moment we've wanted for a long time," said Warrior senior guard Clarissa Larios (six points, two steals). I've been chasing this the past three years and Leslie as well. We finally reached our goal and all our hard work paid off for us."
On the SHC side there were solemn faces and tears, but the Irish knew they'd battled valiantly in trying to win the school's fifth girls state title in seven tries.
Said senior guard Briannah Smith (seven points, two steals, five rebounds): "We always come back and fight and we always keep attacking and there was no doubt (among SHC players) we'd come back and win, but we just fell a little hit short."
Added Russell: "We expected to be here, even though this is my first year (as coach). We had a lot of talent, but also a lot of adversity with some key injuries and one player leaving during the season. But it's a testimony to how strong and how deep we are that role players stepped up for us."
Sophomore 6-0 center Ashanti Coleman led the Irish with 14 points and 12 rebounds.
Key players Coloyan, Ge'Anna Summers-Luaulu, Howard, Angela Dailey and Coleman all return for the Irish next season.
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John Murphy may be reached at jmurphy@Prep2Prep.com.
