St. Francis fell hard in the state title game against Lynwood on Saturday.
But even after the Lancers' 39-26 setback to the Knights in the Division III championship game in Sacramento, Lancer coach Brian Harrigan said there's no place he'd rather be than coaching the brown and gold in Mountain View.
That means a lot, considering Harrigan won four state titles as coach of Sacred Heart Cathedral in his previous stop. His 2008 team went 33-0, won a mythical national title and Harrigan was named national coach of the year by numerous media outlets.
"It's been an incredible journey," said Harrigan who led the Lancers to their first girls' state title game in his second year as the St. Francis coach. "I've coached for 30 years and I've never been prouder than a group as with these young ladies. Today's game was not very artistic, but everyone saw our attitude and our spirit. There was no quit in these girls and they played hard until the end.
"I told them when we got on the bus (for Sacramento) that in 10 or 15 years when we get together we'll think about the journey we took from Nov. 21 to March 23. There were some fantastic moments and I hope the girls know how extremely proud I am of them. They've set the bar high for future Lady Lancer teams."
Both teams were cold to start the game, but St. Francis (24-9) connected enough to take a 10-7 lead a minute into the second quarter. Then came a drought that was as arid as the Sahara, with the Lancers going 11 minutes without scoring. By the time junior forward Lauren Johnson made a 16-footer with 4:10 left in the first half, Lynwood (29-5) led 22-12.
The Lancers were outscored 15-2 in the second quarter and were on their way to the fewest point total by any team in a Division II title game.
Cold shooting played a part, as St. Francis made just 26 percent of its field goal attempts for the game (11 of 42). But the Lancers also didn't take care of the ball, committing 23 turnovers to nine for Lynwood.
Credit Lynwood's height (seven players 5-10 or taller) and athleticism. St. Francis' tallest player is 5-9 and the Lancers could not match the Knights' quickness.
"We saw that today," Harrigan said. "We worked hard in practice and played 7 on 5 and 8 on 5 trying to simulate (Lynwood's quickness). But anyone who's coached basketball knows that you can try to simulate something but you can never really duplicate what they do."
Added Lancer senior guard Shelbi Aimonetti who scored seven points: "We worked hard to get here but we didn't execute today and we didn't keep them off the boards the way we practiced."
Johnson's layup at the third quarter buzzer brought St. Francis to within 28-19, but then Lynwood scored the first six points of the fourth quarter to go up by 14 and it was a futile game of catch-up after that.
Johnson led St. Francis with 10 points and nine rebounds and Jennifer Lucian joined Aimonetti with seven points.
Despite the loss, the Lancers kept their heads up during the post-game after a tough West Catholic Athletic League season, a NorCal regional title win against Lynbrook and an unprecedented state title game appearance.
"It was amazing," Lucian said. "I enjoyed every minute of it. It was a great experience."
Jazmine Johnson led Lynwood with 11 points and Amber Blockmon had eight points and 13 rebounds.
The state title was Lynwood's fourth under veteran coach Ellis Barfield, but first in Division II after winning D-I titles in 1993, 2002 and 2003.
"I want to praise the St. Francis team for the outstanding job they did," Barfield said. "They had a lot of heart and we had to elevate our game (to win). We struggled from outside, but we battled through the adversity."
Regarding Lynwood's absence of titles in recent seasons, Barfield waxed philosophical, perhaps giving the burgeoning Lancer program something to ponder.
"I've learned in life that if it's not our season, it's because it was someone else's turn to win," he said.
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John Murphy may be reached at jmurphy@Prep2Prep.com.
