ETHAN KASSEL
Prep2Prep Senior Editor

February 20, 2022

SAN FRANCISCO — For months, it’s been clear that the St. Ignatius Wildcats and Pinewood Panthers were on a crash course to meet in the CCS Girls Basketball Open Division, with the winner earning the right to challenge Mitty for the championship.

That remained true when the section it was transitioning from a bracket format to a pool play model, and though Palo Alto proved a sturdy challenge on Friday night, the Wildcats emerged with a 61-42 win to remain on track.

“They’re a very good shooting team,” SI second-year head coach Maya Fok said of the youthful Vikings. “I think we were used to packing it in rather than picking up shooters in transition.”

Second-seeded St. Ignatius (17-7) led wire-to-wire, but never pulled away until the midpoint of the fourth quarter.

“We wanted to come in and not play scared and enjoy this experience,” Palo Alto head coach Scott Peters said. “We’re one of the best eight in the CCS.”

It looked like the Vikings were in for a long night when Emmie Ennis’ layup gave SI a 23-8 lead in the second quarter, but seventh-seeded Palo Alto (21-3) trailed just 29-19 at halftime and faced a 35-24 deficit when Caroline Mostofizadeh scored off an inbound play with three minutes left in the third quarter. Even without the benefit of a single made 3-pointer, the Wildcats finally created separation in the final minutes of the third behind baskets from Soon Ja Elzey, San Jose State commit Sabrina Ma, Maggie Mendoza and sophomore Makenzie Eggert, whose putback gave her team a 43-24 lead.

A 14-2 run in the fourth quarter put the game away, with Jackie Acosta scoring on back-to-back possessions and Ma setting Brigette Mahoney up for a three-point play with the last of her five assists. Ma, playing the role of point forward, finished with 17 points, nine rebounds and five assists.

“A lot of people try to face-guard me, but I’ve tried to add some mid-range and hesitation that’s really brought my game to the next level,” Ma said.

Acosta finished with 13 points, Elzey scored eight off the bench and Mahoney finished with seven. Ennis, a soccer star who’s in the mix for national youth team selection, scored six and finished with four rebounds and three assists. Her insertion in the starting lineup followed her sister, Mali, going down with a meniscus injury. A return for the state tournament is in the cards for the older Ennis.

Vienn Sheng hit four 3-pointers and scored a game-high 15 for the Vikings. Kaella Peters finished with 11. Jessica Fiske, the only senior to see minutes for Palo Alto, didn’t score but finished with 11 rebounds and four assists.