SACRAMENTO, CA – In the first of six games on Friday at the Golden 1 Center Eastside College Prep put on a display of torrid first half shooting and then just kept on going in an impressive 63-40 victory over Rolling Hills Prep-San Pedro.
The victory gave the girls from East Palo Alto a second straight CIF Division V state championship in their third straight appearance.
“I’m still dreaming. It seems like the first one was yesterday,” Eastside Prep Coach Donovan Blythe remarked. “These girls are at the gym at 5:45 every day for practice so if we didn’t win this season was a bust.”
Eastside Prep (23-8) trailed only once at 3-0 but from there it was all Panthers as they bolted to a 13-7 first quarter and had a 34-16 halftime lead that bulged to 27-points before Blythe emptied the bench.
With eight three-pointers Eastside Prep sophomore guard Zion Gabriel broke the Division V state title game record for three-pointers and set the mark for all divisions. The previous record for three-pointers was six and was set in the 1996 Division V title game by Mary Mott of Mission Prep-San Luis Obispo.
No other division had ever had more than five in a game, and that list included Candice Wiggins of La Jolla Country Day in the 2004 Division IV title game and Washington star and current NCAA Division I Women’s Player of the Year Kelsey Plum when she equaled the mark in leading La Jolla Country Day to the 2012 D4 state title.
Gabriel even broke the boys mark of seven treys set by Golden State Warriors star Klay Thompson when he led Santa Margarita Catholic-Rancho Santa Margarita to the 2008 CIF Division III state title.
“I know them all and watched all of them play,” was Gabriel’s response to the players she passed.
When a reporter asked Gabriel out of the blue who her favorite player is the answer really didn’t surprise anyone.
“Klay Thompson is my favorite player,” she said with a grin.
The eight long bombs also tied the Golden 1 Arena record held by the Warriors Steph Curry.
Gabriel only took three-point shots in the game and was 8-of-16 from beyond the arc to finish with 26 points, but she was not the only Panthers girl that was hot as the team was 11-of-24 on three-pointers and 23-for-46 for 50-percent overall shooting.
They also out-rebounded Rolling Hills 42-23 and had the edge in assists 17-11 in a game Eastside Prep totally dominated.
Sophomore Mina Tameilau had 12 rebounds (six points), junior Kayla Tahaafe had seven points, eight rebounds and nine assists, and sophomore Kayla Mahan added nine points.
“The whole process of playing in an NBA arena is a bit surreal but we came here to prove ourselves and defend out state title. Playing teams like Cardinal Newman and Sacred Heart Cathedral really prepared us,” said Tahaafe.
Rolling Hills Prep (32-4) got 12 points from freshman and leading scorer this season Alyssa Maxey and nine points from fellow freshman Naya Stroud.
“We’re a young D6 team that beat D5 teams to get here so it was an honor for us to be here,” said Rolling Hills Prep Coach Richard Masson, who has six freshmen, a sophomore and two seniors on the nine-girl roster.
“I’m proud of the girls,” continued Masson. “We put forth the effort and never quit, but we’re a diamond in the rough and they’re polished.”
For Eastside it will be its final time in the CIF Division V playoffs for the foreseeable future. With the CIF going to competitive equity for its basketball placement in the Regional championships next year just like football, the Panthers would have been in Division I had the system been in place this year.
“We just wanted to defend our title,” Blythe said. “Our goal as a team is to move up so next year we’ll play wherever they put us.”
