Stockdale stuns Clovis West for Div. I girls title
| Sunday, Mar 08 2009 03:04 AM
Last Updated Wednesday, Mar 25 2009 06:16 PM
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Stockdale's Melissa Sweat drives to the basket against Clovis West's Janae Coffee and Brianna Orlich during the second half of their championship game at Selland Arena in Fresno on Saturday night. Sweat went on to lead the Mustangs in scoring with 24 points.
Stockdale's Marissa Bruce hugs a fan after the Mustang's won the Girls Division 1 Central Section Championship at Selland Arena in Fresno on Saturday night. The Mustang's beat Clovis West, 70-60.
The Stockdale bench celebrates a big play in the fourth quarter as the Mustangs went on to beat Clovis West for the Girls Division 1 Central Section title in Selland Arena in Fresno on Saturday night.
The Stockdale Mustangs celebrate their Girls Division 1 Central Section title at midcourt after beating Clovis West 70-60 in Selland Arena in Fresno on Saturday night.
FRESNO -- At halftime Saturday night, Stockdale High faced a moment of truth that would define its girls basketball season.
No. 1 Clovis West, the Mustangs' nemesis that had beaten No. 2 Stockdale the last two years in the Central Section Division I finals, had used a strong finish in the second quarter to take a nine-point lead.
The Mustangs responded -- big-time.
Outplaying the top-seeded Eagles solidly in the second half, Stockdale raced to its first Division I section girls basketball title, 70-60 at Selland Arena.
When the final horn sounded, co-coaches Glenn Hager and Charles Stewart hugged each other while twirling in a circle in front of the team bench. The players swarmed to midcourt, shouting and screaming.
"We've been waiting this entire season to get here," said Stockdale junior guard Jalei Kinder, who had 13 points and had felt the dejection of the title-game losses the last two years. "We've wanted them (Clovis West) the entire season."
Junior forward Melissa Sweat came up with the big plays offensively, defensively and as a rebounder that led the way for Stockdale. She had 24 points, 12 rebounds, three steals and two assists. Eight points and six rebounds came in the fourth quarter.
"I didn't want my team to lose," said Sweat, who seemed to pull down every defensive rebound down the stretch as the Mustangs held on. "I did what I had to do. I just wanted to win."
Stockdale trailed 37-28 at halftime after Clovis West ran off an 8-1 spurt the final 2:15 of the quarter. Little did anyone know that the Mustangs would outscore Clovis West 42-23 in the second half.
"We had to refocus at halftime," Hager said. "We didn't want to come out like last year and roll over. That was their run; we had to answer with our run."
Stockdale had to regroup because its game plan had gone awry. Hager said the focus was trying to contain St. Mary's-bound senior guard Morgan Hatten and junior guard Brianna Orlich while conceding that 6-foot-3, 230-plus pound center Janae Coffee would get her points.
But what the coaches didn't count on was leaving Hatten wide open for 3s. She hit five 3s and had 15 points. Orlich had 21 points and Coffee added 15 points and 15 rebounds.
"In the first half we had some breakdowns," Stewart said. "We ran a triangle-and-2 on Orlich and Hatten. We knew Coffee would get her points, but we wanted to limit the other two."
Hatten and Orlich combined for only 11 points in the second half and only one 3-pointer.
Marissa Bruce added 10 points for Stockdale, including a key outside jumper inside the final two minutes with two seconds left on the shot clock and the Mustangs trying to keep the momentum.
Stockdale had only seven turnovers and shot 52 percent in the second half. Clovis West had 20 turnovers and hit only 25 percent of its shots after halftime.
