STOCKTON, CA – When Prep2Prep CIF North Coast Section No. 4 Bishop O’Dowd-Oakland fell behind 28-14 in the late first quarter against P2P NCS No. 2 Cardinal Newman-Santa Rosa, they looked out of sync and only getting production from University of San Diego-bound 5-11 senior wing Myah Pace.
They started picking it up in Saturday’s third game in the St. Mary’s MLK Showcase, but with 5:50 left in the second period Pace went down with what had the appearances of a concussion as she was led off dazed to the locker room.
None of the assembled analysts or college coaches seated near where Pace went into the locker room thought she would return by the look in her eyes, but not only did she come out of the locker room but went back in the game with 1:45 left before halftime.
What surprised some was by the time Pace returned O’Dowd (12-3) had a 33-32 lead and all the momentum despite her not being in the game. The knock by some on the Dragons was that they are another of the one-girl teams but that summation was debunked in what turned out to be a 54-48 victory.
In fact, from the time the Dragons trailed by the 14-point margin they went on a 36-7 run to take a 50-35 high-water mark lead in the early fourth quarter against a Newman team that like O’Dowd was early on could not buy a basket during more than one dry spell.
Pace finished with a game-high 14 points with seven rebounds and three steals. Junior Zakiya Mahoney had a solid outing and finished with 12 points and eight rebounds. Freshman guard Daylee Dunn knocked down two 3-pointers and added 10 points. Sophomore guard Jada Holland chipped in with nine points, four steals and three assists, and junior forward Jordan Gudger only had four points but hustled all game and played solid defense to add seven rebounds, three steals, three blocks and two assists. Sophomore Lexi Love, who transferred from North Carolina where she was one of the state’s top freshman guards, played good defense, hit one trey and finished with seven points.
Boise State-bound 6-3 senior wing Hailey Vice-Neat led Cardinal Newman (12-3) with 13 points and seven rebounds. University of Portland-committed 6-5 senior post Lauren Walker added 10 points, eight rebounds and seven blocks. Junior Tal Webb, who has been impressive of late, had nine points and five rebounds, and sophomore guard Avery Cargill had eight points and five assists.
Cardinal Newman still has a game with St. Mary’s in Stockton next Saturday, but the remainder of the regular season schedule is all in the North Bay League where the Cardinals won’t have to break a sweat. What Coach Monica Mertle needs to do for the playoffs is find ways to overcome certain matchups that have exposed her girls with long scoring droughts, albeit unlike a lot of other teams that are highly ranked.
O’Dowd also has a game on February 11 with St. Mary’s but at home. Other than that it will be a diet of West Alameda – Foothill League opponents and some are quality teams like the P2P NCS No. 11 Castro Valley team they meet on Friday night.
Salesian no match for deep Mission Hills
The 39-points Prep2Prep CIF North Coast Section No. 3 Salesian scored in its 39-38 mild road upset of Bishop O’Dowd two Saturday’s ago went down to a 31-point output this past Saturday in Stockton, and even though the Pride held Mission Hills-San Marcos (15-1) to one of its lowest point totals of the season they still went down 47-31 to the Cal-Hi Sports No. 10 ranked Grizzlies.
“Our offense is struggling,” Salesian Coach Stephen Pezzola said. “If we’re going to be an elite team and not just another top 20 team (in the state) we have to be more consistent on offense.”
Salesian (9-5) didn’t score until the 4:35 mark of the first quarter and that pretty much tell the story. They only trailed 21-15 at the half and 33-23 after three quarters, but relative to the difficulty both teams were having with each other’s defense, overcoming the 10-point deficit was tantamount to scaling a peak for the Pride, and they Richmond girls were not up to such a steep climb.
Not only that but Washington-bound 6-2 Mission Hills post Khayla Rooks, the daughter of recently passed NBA star Sean Rooks and brother of Cal junior center Kameron Rooks, decided to take over plus other Mission Hills girls hit a few shots.
When Rooks brought the ball up all by herself and then pulled up and drained a 3-pointer, it completed an 11-3 run to start the fourth quarter and totally sealed the deal.
Rooks finished with a game-high 12 points with 13 rebounds, two assists and two steals. No one else was in double-figure scoring but senior guard Katelynn Nguyen had nine points on three 3-pointers including two in the early fourth quarter.
“We just weren’t hitting our shots consistently but it was our defense that saved us,” Rooks remarked.
Salesian got 10 points off the bench from sophomore Makayla Edwards and eight points, 15 rebounds and five blocks from 6-5 sophomore post Angel Jackson.
Salesian is in action on Monday morning in the day two of the MLK Showcase in Stockton when they face La Jolla Country Day in the 10 am game.
Immediately after that Mission Hills takes the court at 11:30 am against Cal-Hi Sports No. 2 and P2P CIF Central Coast Section top-ranked Archbishop Mitty-San Jose.
A complete recap of Monday’s action and other games played on Saturday will be posted on Tuesday.
