SAN RAFAEL, Calif. – Size and power in the paint coupled with aggressive defense was the recipe for top-seeded Salesian-Richmond in its state CIF Northern Regional Division I semifinal match-up on Saturday night at Dominican University with No. 2 seed O’Dowd.
Not only did the strategy of the Pride and head coach Stephen Pezzola work to a tee, it resulted in a 64-37 victory in which Salesian simply overpowered O’Dowd and dominated just about every aspect of the game.
The player that led the charge was Silivia “Via” Fonongaloa. The 6-1 senior center/power forward is second on the team in scoring and leads the team in rebounding, but her numbers were down this season from the past two and her dominance of the paint has been hampered by fighting a nagging illness a big portion of the season.
However, the Via that looked at less than full strength in some games this season has been nowhere to be found in the CIF NorCals. She wasn’t needed in a 76-46 blowout of Acalanes-Lafayette in the first round, but in the semifinals Fonongaloa tied her season high with 16 points plus nine rebounds in an 80-52 victory over Laguna Creek-Elk Grove on Thursday. Then, in the biggest game of the season, Via had her best all-around performance in the O’Dowd victory after finishing with a season-high 20 points with nine rebounds, two assists and two steals.
“I feel great and I in feel the game we just played on Thursday I composed myself and I feel like that warmed me up a little bit,” Fonongaloa said.
“I feel like I’m getting back into business and doing my job,” Fonongaloa continued. “Playoff me is just a different me.”
Pezzola sees the difference in Fonongaloa.
“Via suffered a bit,” Pezzola said. “We had the long COVID layover and then she had an illness, but the last two games are Via as we know her.”
“Her energy is back, she’s getting up and down the floor. I think she played great,” Pezzola continued. “When she’s playing tough it’s hard to defend inside.”
The dominance of Salesian was not all the doing of Fonongaloa. Blossoming junior combo guard Makiah Asidanya, who leads the team in scoring at 10.5 points per game, added a solid 12 points, seven rebounds, four steals and two assists.
Salesian played 12 girls and 11 scored. Surprisingly, the one player that didn’t score was senior starter Kaylie Edge, who has had some big games for the Pride this season.
“The last three games we’ve been able to play all 12 in meaningful minutes, and it’s tough when we can do that,” Pezzola said. “Particularly tonight when Nevaeh (Asiasi) and Kaylie get two fouls early, and then Sofia (Fidelus). Three of our starters have two fouls and we sit them for the half.”
“We can do that because our bench players came in, and they’re not really bench players,” Pezzola continued. “They’re really good.”
While it was a total team effort for Salesian it was the opposite for O’Dowd. Up until the end when he cleared his bench to get some players in the season’s final game head coach Malik McCord went with seven players and only five scored.
Sophomore point guard Savannah Jones led O’Dowd (17-9) with 15 points and eight rebounds and three steals, but 10 of her points came in the second half when at one point the Dragons faced a 31-point deficit. Cal-bound Amaya Bonner added nine points but the Salesian defense limited her to one basket and that when she scored the game’s first points off a steal.
Although Nevaeh Asiasi only had one point and battled foul trouble, Pezzola had her guard Bonner, and along with help from Georgia Pournaras off the bench, they shut her down.
Salesian forced 12 turnovers in a first half that saw them take a 30-16 lead. The Pride had a 34-23 rebounding advantage and 15 assisted baskets to four for O’Dowd. In fact, the Dragons only had seven baskets (two three-pointers) the entire game
Next up is St. Ignatius in the NorCal D1 title game on Tuesday once again at Dominican College. The No. 3 seeded Wildcats went to Stockton on Saturday and came back to san Francisco with a mild upset in a 48-46 come from behind victory.
“We scrimmaged St. Ignatius at the beginning of the year, but the last time we played them we were down 14 with nine minutes to go and came back to win,” Pezzola said.
“They’re a very tough team. Sabrina (San Jose State-bound Sabrina Ma) is a great player, they’re well-coached and they’re on a high, on a roll and just beat a great team in St. Mary’s of Stockton. We have our work cut out for us.”
