They say the third time is a charm.
Well, the third time wasn’t either but the fourth time? Pretty much unbelievable to say the least.
After losing the last three meetings Pinewood-Los Altos Hills has now won the most important one after overcoming a 13-point third quarter deficit to post a thrilling 78-67 triple overtime victory over state and national No. 1 Archbishop Mitty-San Jose, and with it comes the CIF Northern Regional Open Division championship.
The win avenges a 76-62 loss in the CIF Central Coast Section Open Division championship two weeks ago and losses in the two previous CCS Open title games.
In his usual comic self Pinewood head coach Doc Scheppler couldn’t wait to burst into his Howard Cosell routine and started the press conference off poking a little fun at his undersized squad.
“Some said too small to play pro football,” Scheppler quipped.
The reality is Pinewood (27-2) may be undersized but they had some players come up huge, particularly Stanford-committed junior Hannah Jump and UC San Diego-bound senior Briana Claros.
Mitty came into the game as the No. 1 team in every national ranking but played a good portion of the second half without junior sensation Haley Jones. She picked up her third foul and then her fourth shortly thereafter with 3:35 left in the third and Mitty leading 39-28. Jones returned with 5:42 left to play and Mitty leading 50-43 after she had a putback, but Jones fouled out with 1:31 remaining in regulation on a questionable call and Mitty clinging to a 50-48 lead that would totally evaporate after the teams were tied 50-50 at the end of regulation.
Mitty almost won it in the first overtime but Pinewood’s Klara Astrom got a feed from Claros to tie it at 57-57 and send it to a second overtime. The Monarchs had a chance to win in the second overtime, or lose it, as Ashley Hiraki missed the first of two free-throws with 6.1 seconds left but made the second for a 65-65 tie and a third extra period.
Pinewood’s Kaitlyn Leung hit a 3-pointer to open the third overtime and after neither team scored for almost two minutes, Mitty closed to 68-67 on two free-throws by Charlize Andaya, but those were the final points the Monarchs would tally. Claros had two baskets and a free-throw to give Pinewood a 73-67 lead with 49 seconds left and from there all the top team in the land could do was foul and try 3-pointers to no avail.
Jump, who was 1-of-3 on 3-pointers in the first half and actually only had six points until an NBA 3-pointer at the buzzer cut a 39-23 deficit midway through the third quarter to 45-37 entering the final period. From there the 5-foot-11 Jump really got hopping. She hit another NBA trey to open the fourth quarter, Klara Astrom hit a 3-pointer, and then Jump drained another long bomb and it was down to a 50-46 deficit as the worm began to turn with Jones on the bench.
Jump ended up with a game-high 24 points on 6 of 11 from outside the arc, plus nine rebounds playing all 44 minutes of the game. Claros, who also played all 44 minutes, had 20 points and five assists and was adept at breaking the Mitty press.
“It’s a mental thing with my shooting,” Jump remarked. “Once I hit a couple of shots I can feel they’re going in.”
“Gritting it out and not wanting to lose. I could have played all night. Anything to not lose that game,” was Claros answer when asked if she was fatigued playing every minute.
Astrom only had seven points but she had 13 rebounds for a Pinewood team that out-rebounded Mitty 50-45 after getting beat on the boards 44-28 in the CIFCCS Open Division title-game loss.
Prior to the game Scheppler said one of the keys was 3-point shooting, which is a given for Pinewood, but he also felt in order to win they had to rebound.
“What was the key to the game? Rebounding,” was Scheppler’s rhetorical answer. “Also, I want to comment on the heart and grit of my team. When you play an elite team like Mitty and things aren’t going your way like in the third quarter you can fold. We were up against it but there was no el foldo tonight.”
Freshman Hunter Hernandez stepped up for Mitty (29-1) with Jones on the bench to score 16 of her team high 18 points after halftime. Despite missing almost half the game and being limited by foul trouble Jones still had a double-double 17 points and 10 rebounds with four assists. Penn State-bound Ortiz also had a double-double after finishing with 14 points and 11 rebounds with five assists.
“Haley only played 24 minutes and we still went to three overtimes,” said Mitty head coach Sue Phillips. “You have to remember, this team is 29-1 and we beat the top teams in the nation and Pinewood already. Unfortunately it’s not a night when we get a chance to redeem ourselves. But you’ve got to take your hats off to Pinewood, they shot the ball really well, particularly Hannah Jump, and she and Claros never came out.”
Pinewood has now won nine Northern Regional titles, but under the competitive equity formula that’s had them in the Open Division the past four years it’s the first NorCal Open Division championship for Scheppler and his girls.
“Being a small school and playing a giant, well-coached team like Mitty is always a disadvantage, but our effort and heart, skill, coordination and conditioning can overcome a team like Mitty,” Scheppler remarked. “The basketball gods smiled on us tonight.”
With the win Pinewood has knocked of the No. 1 team in the nation for the second time in three years after they beat St. Mary’s of Stockton in the 2016 NorCal Open semifinals. The Panthers also complete a week when they not only beat Mitty but they turned the trick again against St. Mary’s and this year the Rams were a nationally-ranked team that was as high as No. 6 in some rankings.
Now Pinewood has another superstar to face when they meet Windward and junior phenom Charisma Osborne in the Open Division title game at 6:00 pm next Saturday at the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento. Windward was a 61-50 winner over Clovis West of Fresno.
“I know it’s (head coach Vanessa) Nygaard’s team but I don’t know much about Windward, but I feel sorry for them if they have to guard us," was Scheppler's statement that concluded the post game press conference.
