BURLINGAME, CA — Nicole Brunicardi knew her team needed a lift. She also knew that four points in the first half would not cut it against a solid Leland team.
And so Brunicardi responded by scoring 13 points in the third quarter, during which Burlingame turned a four-point deficit into a four-point lead. She added seven more in the fourth, scoring 20 of her 24 points in the second half as the Panthers outlasted the Chargers, 54-49.
“We knew we had to step up, and for me especially, as a senior, I really wanted to show my team the stuff we can progress on,” Brunicardi said. “I know I wanted that win for all of us, and me showing that effort kind of [rubbed off] on everyone else.”
On Burlingame’s second possession out of the break, Brunicardi caught the Leland defense napping and made an open three-pointer. She hit another jumper on her team’s next possession to give the Panthers the lead. Burlingame (8-3) began the second half on a 17-7 spurt, with Brunicardi scoring 11 points during that stretch.
Even so, the game was still in doubt until the final minute. Karli Mukai kept making big plays for the Chargers (7-6), who would not go away. Her three-pointer early in the fourth quarter tied the game 44-44. The Panthers scored the next seven points for their largest lead, but two baskets by Sheridan Payne pulled Leland within 51-49 late.
Amber Moss, however, made two clutch free throws on the other end to put Burlingame back up by two scores and all but secure the victory.
Turnovers hurt the Panthers early on, and Mukai capitalized, scoring the first four points of the game. The Chargers led by as many as nine in the second quarter before Burlingame ended the first half on a 7-2 run. Mukai led Leland with 24 points despite being among the smallest players on the floor.
The Panthers, by contrast, leaned heavily on 5’11’’ center Moss in the first half. Moss scored 10 of her 16 points in the opening two quarters, exclusively in the paint and at the free-throw line.
“We knew they were shooting lights out that first half,” Burlingame coach Joe Dito said. “We knew who their shooters were. We started off in a 2-3 zone and they were having a lot of early success on that, so we switched to man-to-man and I put our best defender, Sam Kershner, on [Mukai].”
The switch worked, as Kershner clearly bothered Mukai throughout the second half. Mukai was unable to penetrate as well as she had early on, and the Panthers frequently forced her into bad shots and turnovers.
The improvement on defense helped jump-start Burlingame’s offense as well, with Kershner and Brunicardi facilitating. The Panthers cut down on the turnovers in the second half and got better looks at the rim. When Kershner banked in a three-pointer late to give Burlingame a 51-44 lead, it appeared the game would soon be over.
But the Panthers got a bit sloppy down the stretch. Up by four with the ball and 52.8 seconds remaining, Burlingame turned it over, leading to a floater by Payne. Another Panthers turnover gave Leland a chance to tie, but Mukai’s layup was heavily contested and Brunicardi pulled in the rebound, forcing the Chargers to foul. Moss hit the key free throws, and Burlingame came away with the five-point win.
“They’re showing great leadership,” Dito said. “We talk about overcoming adversity all the time, and I told the girls, keep doing what we do and good things will happen.”
Burlingame concludes its non-league schedule at home against Mercy-Burlingame on Friday. Leland will play at another PAL opponent in Half Moon Bay on Saturday.
