SANTA MARIA, Calif. – The shots weren’t falling in abysmal start for host and state CIF Southern Regional Division I second-seeded St. Joseph, and they were getting dominated on the glass as well, yet they still only trailed 22-19 to No. 15 seed Buena Park.
Then UCLA-bound St. Joseph senior star Avary Cain picked up a second foul that sent her to the bench and St. Joseph gave up a 12-0 run that saw them trailing 34-21 midway through the second quarter.
With St. Joseph head coach Kristina Santiago bringing Cain in offense and taking her out on defense things started to click and the Knights cut the deficit to 38-31 at the half.
From there St. Joseph went on a 13-4 run to take its first lead at 44-42 since it led 6-4 early. Buena Park still had some fight left in them and after going back and forth the Coyotes were still clinging to a 55-52 lead midway through the fourth quarter, but it was at that point Cain and company took charge down the stretch and came away with a 67-59 victory.
Cain, who hit a long three-pointer to open the scoring, missed her next 10 three-point attempts but found other ways to get it done on offense and defense. After being held to seven first half points Cain took over in the second half on both ends of the floor and finished with a game-high 19 points, plus five rebounds, four assists and three steals. Of her totals 10 points and three rebounds came after the Knights faced the 55-52 deficit.
Sophomore post Maava Sat put in a solid effort and finished with a double 11 points and 10 rebounds with two assists and a block. She had a key rebound and put back that gave St. Joseph a 60-55 with under two minutes remaining. Senior Kai Oani connected on for three-pointers and finished with 15 points, five steals and two assists, including one to Cain with under a minute left that gave St. Joseph a 62-55 lead and pretty much sealed the outcome. The fourth double-figure scorer for the Knights was junior Mia Matautia. She finished with 10 points, all in the second half.
Despite losing the rebounding battle, 40-21, and not having a great night shooting the ball, St. Joseph (24-6) won stretching the lead right up until the final buzzer.
“Right her. It’s all heart,” said Santiago pointing to her chest. “When we went in at halftime we knew we didn’t want this to be our last game. I told the girls you better get on the boards. It’s all about rebounds and they knew what they had to do coming out, and they got it done.”
The final rebounding deficit was huge, but in the second half they closed the gap with 11 rebounds to 13 for the Coyotes.
Buena Park (22-11) got a team-high 15 points, plus nine rebounds from junior Gloria Barrera, 14 points, eight rebounds and two steal from sophomore Bella Harmon, and a double-double 12 points and 13 rebounds with two assists from sophomore Alana White, and 10 points, four rebounds and two assists from junior Mya Barnes.
St. Joseph now advances to the second round on Thursday when they host CIF Southern Section Division 1 champion Brentwood of Los Angeles. Seventh-seeded Brentwood was a 66-59 winner over Southern Section 2AA champion St. Anthony of Long Beach.
