MORAGA, CA - The Campolindo girls' basketball team got a huge game from Haley Van Dyke to capture the CIF NorCal Division III title, 78-56 over St. Mary's on Saturday night.
“We have talked a lot about mental toughness all season,” Campolindo head coach Art Thoms said. “The girls stayed focused and poised throughout the game. They believe in each other and trust each other.”
Van Dyke was the Cougars' top scorer, dropping a whopping 46 points, a record for NorCal championship scoring in all divisions.
“I thought we performed really well,” said Van Dyke. “Everyone had an equal opportunity to contribute to our win tonight, so that was really cool.”
St. Mary's kept the game close until midway through the fourth quarter. The Cougars began a 17-3 run with 4:38 left to pull away from the visiting Panthers, led by a three-pointer and a layup from Ashley Thoms.
Campolindo started out strong with a three-pointer from Van Dyke and Thoms, and a pair of layups from Jessi O'Reilly. St. Mary's countered with strong play from Kennedi Villa, who had 14 of her team-high 18 points in the first half, while Kayla Rosemon had seven of her 14 points in the first half. That made the score 37-27 in favor of host Campolindo at the break.
The Panthers began to storm back in the third quarter with three-point shots from Evans and Maylana Deluca, and a layup from Rosemon. The host Cougars, however, received 13 points from Van Dyke in the quarter. She was also aggressive in rebounding, accounting for 20 rebounds. Campolindo then outscored the Panthers 24-13 in the final quarter.
St. Mary's (22-11) finishes its season as CIF NorCal Division 3 runner-ups. Campolindo (27-6) will square off against Rosary Academy (29-5) for the CIF Division III State Championship at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento on Friday.
“I'm really confident that we'll play really well next week” said Van Dyke.
“At this point in the season, the preparation will be mostly on the game plan and being mentally prepared for the state title game,” Thoms added.
