MILLBRAE, CA - Notre Dame San Jose swarmed over Branham girls basketball star Regina Sankey, boxing her in, double-teaming her and making her life difficult.
But Sankey's teammates compensated in a big way, leading Branham to a 53-47 win Wednesday night against the Regents. The victory came in the CCS Division III semifinals at Mills High.
"They came out and decided to double- and triple-team Regina and it left other people open," Branham coach Heather Queyrel said. "My sophomore Alexa Lopez and my freshman Tori Mok stepped up."
Lopez scored 12 points and Mok 11 in support of Sankey's 15 as the Bruins overtook NDSJ. Branham will now meet Hillsdale in the section finals at 6 p.m. Saturday at Independence High.
The Bruins made the section title game two years ago at Foothill College, but fell to Burlingame.
The Regents, behind inspired play by Misa Fujii (game-high 18 points), led 38-34 after three quarters. Fujii's 3-pointer with 20.1 seconds left had NDSJ soaring heading into the fourth quarter.
But Branham (20-7) opened the fourth quarter with a 12-0 run that put it ahead 46-38 with 4:20 left. The Regents never got closer than six the rest of the way.
Sophomore forward Lopez made four free throws and a field goal during the blitz.
"I'm just the person who gives it 110 percent and wants to win," Lopez said. "(NDSJ) is a good team. They're a private school and they came out and put up a good fight, but we practiced hard and we hustled during the game and we came out with a W."
Queyrel was the assistant coach two years ago when Branham made the finals. Now she's running the show and enjoying every second of it.
"It feels absolutely awesome," she said. "I love these girls; they're like my daughters. We're like a little family. We have ups and downs, but we're up right now on that roller coaster."
For the Regents (13-13), it was a difficult end to a season filled with adversity. Notre Dame San Jose lost three seniors starters to injury during the season, including star Rachel Schneider, the daughter of Bellarmine College Prep coach Patrick Schneider.
"I think the girls did a really good job this year," NDSJ coach Kiira Rodriguez said. "The team we started with isn't the team we finished with."
