MORAGA, CA - The Campolindo girls basketball team had a strong night from Haley Van Dyke and Ashley Thoms to beat a very good Pleasant Valley-Chico team on Tuesday night, advancing to the CIF NorCal Division 3 title game.
“We knew this would be a tough game for us,” said Campolindo head coach Art Thoms. “Luckily, we played them in a tournament, so we knew what they were like and how they played.”
Van Dyke was the Cougars' top scorer with 23 points, while Thoms added 12 points.
“We knew [Pleasant Valley] was a good team,” Van Dyke said. “They tried to fight back throughout the game, but we didn't let that hold us back.”
With less than a minute left in the game, the Vikings' Claire Garcia hit a pair of three-pointers to pull within four points, but the Cougars' Van Dyke would hit a layup and a pair of free-throws to seal the victory for host Campolindo.
Pleasant Valley kept the game close throughout the second half, with a pair of three-pointers from Garcia, a pair of jump-shots from Kayla Joyce, and a pair of layups from Sirena Tuitele - all of which pulled the Vikings to within five points twice throughout the game. The Cougars countered with a pair of offensive rebounds and putback shots from Van Dyke, three-pointers from Grace McGuire and Marielle Crudele, and a pair of layups from Jessi O'Reilly and Thoms, as crucial scoring action in the second half.
Down 23-8 in the first quarter, Pleasant Valley began to regroup and storm back in the second quarter with a three-point shot from Joyce and a pair of layups from Joyce and Chloe Mayer. The Cougars countered with a layup from Van Dyke and Aubrey Wagner to make the score 32-25 in favor of Campolindo at the half.
Pleasant Valley was led by Joyce with 23 points, while Garcia had 16.
Pleasant Valley (22-7) finishes its season as Eastern League and Northern Section Division 3 champions. Campolindo (26-6) will square off against Saint Mary's of Berkeley (22-10) at home in the CIF NorCal Division III championship. This will be the Cougars' first appearance in the CIF NorCal finals since 1997.
