Garces girls top Sanger, advance to final
| Wednesday, Mar 04 2009 02:26 AM
Last Updated Wednesday, Mar 25 2009 06:17 PM
Images
Surrounded by Sanger red, Garces' Caitlin Bernardin grabs for control of the ball underneath the basket.
Ram forward Abby Wattenbarger, center, battles a falling Claire Tirapelle of Sanger for a lose ball at the Garces gym. At left is Garces guard Stephanie Stanley.
The Garces girls basketball team unleashed a lethal combination Tuesday night on visiting Sanger.
Playing with energy and poise, the second-seeded Rams easily disposed of the No. 3 Apaches 69-45 in the Central Section Division II semifinal.
It was the 25th straight victory for Garces, which will meet Hanford in the finals at Fresno’s Selland Arena on Friday at 6 p.m.
Caitlin Bernardin had a 29 points and eight rebounds to pace the Rams (29-1), who led wire-to-wire. Sarah Allen added 17 points and eight rebounds and Abby Wattenbarger registered 11 points, eight rebounds, and seven assists for Garces.
“They played good from the start to the end,” Garces coach Tod Denison said. “We have a good run, haven’t lost since December. We wanted to play Hanford to see where we’re at. We know they’re one of the best in the state but this was a goal for us and they shined through tonight.”
Garces (29-1) balanced its natural aggressiveness with patience to successfully break Sanger’s vaunted full-court press and work for high percentage shots.
The tactic worked brilliantly for the Rams, who shot 47 percent (24-of-51) from the field and blew the game open early in the third quarter after leading 30-22 at halftime.
The Apaches (23-6) couldn’t match Garces’ energy early and took just 14 shots from the floor in the first half due to 14 turnovers and being badly outrebounded.
Lauren Welch started the third quarter with a drive and a short jumper to pull Sanger to within six. But Bernardin answered with a layin to start an 11-0 Garces run that all but sealed the victory.
The Rams committed 17 turnovers but only seven in the first half as they jumped ahead from the get-go on a Bernardin putback to start the game.
“We played a lot of teams this season that pressed so we knew what to do,” Bernardin said. “We knew we had to be patient and we knew were to go and what to do.”
The sophomore was steady throughout, scoring at least six points in every quarter.
“The thing that’s always been impressive to me about Caitlin is even when she turns the ball over or makes a mistake she never pouts,” Denison said. “She gets back on defense and she just goes. She never stops. She’s a natural athlete and it’s great coaching her. But all the kids played great tonight. They couldn’t really key on her.”
Veronica Gines led Sanger with 17 points followed by Welch with 13.
“Garces had more energy and they executed and that ended up being the difference,” Sanger coach Dave Campbell said. “The energy we couldn’t match for a whole game. Usually that’s not the case. The fact that they stayed composed but still went hard helped them do well against our press.”
The Apaches made just 31 percent of its field goal attempts, a fact not lost Denison who said his team focused on defense in the second half.
“I’m so proud of these girls,” Denison said “We got moved two divisions. I don’t know how. But they really stepped up and just played. We’re going to give it an effort and see what happens up in Fresno.”
