Garces girls top North, win their own tourney
| Sunday, Jan 04 2009 01:34 AM
Last Updated Friday, Mar 27 2009 01:48 PM
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Caitlin Bernardin of Garces shoots against North High in the championship game of the Garces New year's Cage Classic Saturday. North's Marley Dawson is at left.
It's not a surprise to know Garces girls basketball coach Tod Denison was smiling a little on the inside when his team was tested in the second quarter.
After the Rams responded for a 62-47 victory against North for the Garces New Year's Cage Classic championship Saturday, Denison could let the smile all the way out.
"Obviously you don't want to your lead to disappear," Denison started, "but that's the sign of a good team. We could have let it get us down, but we regrouped."
Caitlin Bernardin, who was named the tournament MVP, scored 14 of her 25 points in the first quarter as Garces roared to a 24-8 lead. Sarah Allen added 13 points and nine rebounds.
With Southeast Yosemite League play starting next week, Garces (14-1) still hasn't played a game decided by fewer than 10 points. But North did push the Rams, at least after falling behind 9-0.
The Stars (12-4), who had already erased an 11-point deficit to beat West 55-49 earlier Saturday to advance to the title game, clawed back with three 3-pointers from three players and a couple of layups from Brooke Sampson in the second quarter. They cut the lead to 29-25 with a 9-0 run before Garces closed the half with two free throws.
"We played hard," North coach Hernan Santiago said. "Garces is just better than us right now."
Sampson led the Stars with 14 points and nine rebounds.
In the other locker room, Garces was busy gearing up for a response to North's surge.
"The second quarter was a little bit of a disaster, but you've got to give (North) credit; they're scrappy," Denison said. "We said at halftime that we'd pressure a little better and play our game."
Bernardin, who didn't score in the second quarter, was the catalyst. She hit two free throws, scored on a transition layup while she was banged to the floor, then limped to the line to complete a three-point play, and then scored twice more in the lane against North's chaotic defense.
"They're tough to press because they handle the ball well," Santiago said.
Suddenly, Garces had a 10-point lead and was cruising again.
"We knew we had to step up our game," Bernardin said. "They're a very good team, high intensity, and we really wanted to eliminate their speed. We needed a game like this."
Things will get tougher, Denison said, starting next week when the Rams play Golden Valley and Bakersfield High. But for now, the Rams are happy to have passed their first test of the new year.
"I'm never satisfied," Denison said. "But this is a very athletic bunch and we're playing well."
Notes: Joining Bernardin on the all-tournament team were teammates Allen and Amanda Dickerson, plus the North trio of Sampson, Maya Zellanack and Kate Simonton and West High's Katrina Huggings ... Wasco junior Elvia Morales, who was taken to Memorial Hospital on a stretcher Friday night after slamming her head on the floor, was released the same night, Wasco coach T.J. Yasenchak said. He said the doctors said she needed rest but appeared healthy.
