Stockdale's late surge KOs Edison
| Wednesday, Mar 04 2009 01:46 AM
Last Updated Wednesday, Mar 25 2009 06:17 PM
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Stockdale's pressure defense was in high gear doing what it does best Tuesday night — forcing turnovers. here Johnece Miller, right, forces a turnover by Edison's No. 5.
Melissa Sweat (33) of Stockdale looks to drive on Edison's Kortini Brown in the first quarter Tuesday night.
Stockdale's Jalei Kinder makes a steal for the Mustangs in the first quarter on a play she converted into a basket. Stockdale won the semifinal 74-54.
Stockdale's Melissa Sweat drew a foul as she worked to get a shot under the basket against Edison in the first quarter Tuesday.
Forget for a moment that Stockdale needed a late run to dispatch Fresno-Edison 74-54 in a closer-than-the-score-looks Central Section Division I semifinal Tuesday.
Forget that the team answered some late adversity in champions' fashion, with a clutch 14-0 run.
And Forget that the Mustangs' home-gym celebration befitted that of a champion — even though there is one enormous hurdle left.
Forget all of that, because Stockdale remembers the past three seasons all too well.
"We're tired," Mustangs co-coach Glenn Hager said, "of being bridesmaids."
Stockdale will return to Selland Arena in Fresno on Saturday night to play in its fifth straight Division I championship. They won in 2005, but for the past three years, the Mustangs have lost the final to West, then Clovis West, then Clovis West again.
Their opponent at 6 p.m. Saturday this year? You guessed it — Clovis West.
"I want another shot bad," said junior guard Jalei Kinder, whose 23 points shared game-high honors with Melissa Sweat. "I think this is our time."
Last year, Clovis West blew open a close game at halftime to win 87-50.
Just to get there this year, Stockdale (25-4) needed to extend its winning streak to 21 games against an Edison (26-4) team that had won 21 in a row coming in.
"When you get to this round, you're not going to get teams that roll over for you," Hager said.
At first, it looked like it might be. After spotting Edison a 4-0 lead, Stockdale ripped off a 12-0 run. The Mustangs added second-quarter bursts of six and seven straight points and took a 38-24 lead into the locker room.
"We just wanted to get out in transition," co-coach Charles Stewart said. "We feel like we're in decent condition, and we wanted to pressure and have some opportunities to get some easy shots."
Besides the matching 23s from Kinder, who had four steals, and Sweat, who added 10 rebounds, Stockdale got 13 points from senior post Alexi Smith. Kortani Brown led Edison with 14 points, and Linda Murray had 10 points, 13 rebounds and three blocks.
Stockdale went cold in the second half, at one point missing 13 consecutive free throws while shooting 2-of-15 from the field. That allowed Edison to shave an 18-point lead to 56-49 with about 5:30 left.
"Sometimes it takes half a game," Edison coach Sue Mahackian said.
"We just wanted to chip away and keep our heads in it."
Stockdale called a timeout and then responded by forcing turnovers on three straight possessions — Edison finished the game with a whopping 54 — and scoring the next 14 points.
"We just pumped ourselves back up," Kinder said.
"We knew our shots weren't falling; we knew we needed to stay mentally tough and get back in the game, finish the game."
They'll need to take that attitude and more to Selland Saturday night.
"We've been working on plans (for Clovis West) for a couple of weeks," Hager said. "I think we have a chance."
