One year ago, Rancho Bernardo High School’s girls basketball team suffered heartbreak, losing in the Southern California Regional semifinals.
“They wanted this opportunity to get back,” said Broncos coach Kyle Williamson. “This was definitely one of their goals.”
Consider it Mission Accomplished. Playing on the road against a higher seeded, bigger team, RB defeated Arroyo Grande 44-37 on Saturday night to advance to the Southern California finals. The Broncos (25-7) will play the winner of Saturday’s other semifinal, Monache-Portola, on the road Tuesday.
“I’m in tears. I’m speechless,” Williamson said by phone. “It’s amazing.”
RB pulled off the upset with stick-like-flypaper defense and bombs-away 3s. Arroyo Grande (18-11), which beat Cathedral Catholic 68-64 in the quarterfinals, came in averaging 51.6 points per game. The Broncos held the team to 14.6 points below its average.
Defense is one of the Broncos’ calling cards. They beat Rosary Academy 38-35 in the first round of the SoCal Regionals, then edged Alhambra Mark Keppel 41-37 in the quarterfinals.
But against Arroyo Grande, the difference came down to the Broncos’ ability to hit from deep. Eleven of RB’s first 12 baskets were 3-pointers. The Broncos finished 11 of 32 beyond the arc.
Arroyo Grande tried 12 3-pointers and hit just one.
Rancho Bernardo hit just two two-point baskets, shooting 2-of-10 inside the arc.
Said Williamson: “That’s kind of us. We’re a team that relies on the 3-point basket. We hit a lot of 3s during practice. Tonight, we just got hot.”
Asked what it felt like from the bench to see the 3s splashing into the net, Williamson said, “Like a sense of relief. Like what I’m doing is the right thing with this group. I’m sure a lot of people were wondering, ‘Why are you shooting all those 3s? A game like this tonight, that’s why.”
No one was more scorching than senior Myla Jones, who buried five treys, finishing with 15 points. Jones came in averaging 6.8 points per game. The five treys matched her career high.
“It feels amazing,” Jones said. “The entire game was on the line, and I’m proud that I was able to hit so many 3s in a big game.”
Reese Tokushige scored 10 points for the Broncos. Her twin sister Keira scored nine and the team’s leading scorer on the season, Lindsay Biddle, added eight.
RB trailed 11-6 after the first quarter, then took a 17-14 lead into the locker room. With less than three minutes to play in the third quarter, RB was down four, 27-23. But the Broncos closed on a 12-2 run (all 12 points on 3s) to lead 35-29 after three quarters.
The host Eagles would get no closer than three the rest of the game.
A year ago in the SoCal Regional semifinals, Rancho Bernardo lost to Bakersfield Christian 73-52.
“To pull this off is amazing,” Jones said. “To come back, after such a long year and to do it with this great group of girls, I am just so happy.”
— DON NORCROSS
Mater Dei Catholic 57, Palisades 55: Trailing by four with 5:34 to play and by three with 3:20 remaining, the Crusaders rallied to with the Southern California Regional Division 3 semifinal game at Lake Balboa Birmingham. Promise Martin, Jarika Chan and Jordyn Wiley led the way down the stretch for the No. 5 seeded Crusaders (20-13).
Mater Dei Catholic advances to the SoCal Regional final on Saturday against the winner of Los Angeles Garfield-Woodland Hills El Camino Real.
Palisades, seeded No. 1, finishes its season 16-18.
— JOHN MAFFEI
Boys basketball
Pasadena Maranatha 77, Mira Mesa 57: Mira Mesa High School’s last four playoff games had been decided by a total of 20 points with two of those games going to overtime.
Saturday, Mira Mesa lost the Division 3 Southern California Regional semifinals by 20.
Mira Mesa got to this game by besting San Dimas 60-57, then going overtime toi edge Lake Balboa Birmingham 65-56. Birmingham, a No. 15 seed, upset No. 2 Newport Beach Sage Hill in the first round 56-48.
Maranatha raced by Alhambra Mark Keppel 66-44 in the first round, then beat Los Angeles George Washington 80-71 in the quarterfinals. George Washington, a No. 14 seed, had upset No. 3 Olympian 46-45 in the first round.
Olympian beat Mira Mesa 54-46 in the San Diego Section Division 2 title game.
— JOHN MAFFEI
