SACRAMENTO, CA – Kiara Jefferson scored 24 points, including seven in a critical one-minute period early in the fourth, as West Campus downed Los Osos, 63-55, at the Golden 1 Center in the Girls CIF Division IV State Championship.
Freshman Gabriella Rones added 16 points, and the Warriors outscored the Grizzlies 14-6 in the final quarter after Los Osos had stayed close in the first half and tied it by the end of the third. For both teams, it was the first appearance in a State Finals.
“We can’t hide anymore, and we don’t want to hide,” West Campus coach John Langston said. “We want everyone to know who we are. This team is a hidden jewel. The school is a hidden jewel.”
Jefferson had a blistering performance for West Campus (30-4). She made 10-of-13 field goals, including 3-for-6 from downtown, and corralled eight rebounds. But it was the timeliness of her baskets that turned the tide for the Warriors. With 6:11 to go, she converted a pull-up jumper. Forty-five seconds later she saw an opening and drove to the hoop for a three-point play, and 20 seconds after that came up with a steal and went coast-to-coast for the finish.
Those plays were part of a 10-1 run to open the quarter, and a basket by Dynnah Buckner with 2:35 remaining would bring the Grizzlies to within four but would prove to be her team’s last points of the game. The Warriors were only 14-of-26 from the free throw line, but Rones and Nia Johnson each netted a pair the rest of the way to help ice the victory.
“I knew I had to step up,” Jefferson said. “So I looked for a way not only to give the opportunity for myself, but also for my team.”
Breanne Ha, one of several key youngsters on Los Osos, also had 24 points, including a string of four three-pointers in the last four minutes of the third quarter, and five rebounds and four assists. Destiny Okonkwo tallied eight points, 11 rebounds, and five steals, while Peyton Van Soest scored 12 and Buckner had 11. The Grizzlies were slightly more efficient from the free throw line, but took only half as many attempts. That proved to be a huge difference, as each team made seven three-pointers and overall West Campus had just one more field goal.
“I hope this burning feeling of disappointment of not getting the actual victory will help us to keep going,” Los Osos coach Dawnesha Buckner stated, also noting that they had trouble responding to the Warriors’ defensive adjustment on Ha in the fourth quarter.
The Warriors’ Namiko Adams finished with seven points, eight rebounds, and six assists, and had a key block in the final minute with the Warriors ahead by six. Nia Johnson, one half of the high-profile Johnson sisters who transferred from Antelope, chipped in five points with eight rebounds, but both sisters struggled from the field, amassing a 1-for-13 total.
Rones, a starting guard, scored 11 of her points in the first half. Rones made a three-pointer from nearly half-court to end the first quarter, which occurred after the period had appeared to end with the Grizzlies up one; an officials’ review put 1.7 seconds back on the clock, just long enough for Rones to get into position to launch it.
“We’ve worked so hard for this,” Rones remarked. “We’ve shed tears together, we’ve been through it all together.”
“I was emotional before we went on the floor,” Langston added. “I pushed them so hard to where they are crying. And it pushed to me where now I’m crying. We are family. We do it together, win or lose.”
West Campus held a 44-32 rebounding advantage and also excelled in bench scoring, 14-0; points off turnovers, 14-4; and second chance scoring, 17-8.
The Championship concludes a postseason run which saw No. 1 West Campus defeat Willows, St. Patrick-St. Vincent, Arcata, and St. Joseph Notre Dame. Los Osos (27-4) had secured the top seed in Southern California and like West Campus made its debut appearance in the State Finals.
Langston cited a trip to Florida and other games against elite opponents as key parts of the schedule.
“This team grew leaps and bounds coming from Florida. Playing St. Mary’s and everybody else, it was a measurement. I have never in my life cared about a division. It’s about heart and desire. That’s what our kids are built on.”
