LOS ALTOS HILLS –– Resting comfortably at the top of the West Bay Athletic League standings, Pinewood expected an easy win over Notre Dame-San Jose at home on Saturday afternoon, but still surprised the crowd with the ease of a 90-25 blow out.
“Regardless of what the score is or who the opponent is, we’re going to play a game where people will cheer when [we] scored our 85th point as compared to when we scored our first bucket,” Pinewood head coach Doc Scheppler said. “Excellence is something that will never change in terms of the goal.”
Entering the final quarter with a 77-18 lead, Pinewood noticeably dialed down its intensity, allowing players who typically get fewer minutes to work their way through the offense. Pinewood senior and Stanford commit Hannah Jump put up a final three pointer before retiring to the bench as Pinewood eased its way through the final eight minutes, while Notre Dame junior Naja Jones Mitchell led her team with four of the Regents’ seven points that quarter. Ultimately, Pinewood succeeded in running the clock out as Notre Dame tired out, finishing with a 90-25 win.
“We got everybody a lot of rotation minutes out there,” Scheppler said. “They got a chance to show us what they can do and prove a point that they want to play more.”
Senior Kaitlyn Leung set the tone of the game for Pinewood by draining two three-pointers within the first minute, after which a string of shorter shots from Jump and Yale-bound senior Klara Astrom racked up a quick lead for the Panthers. Notre Dame was unable to keep up with the Panthers’ fast-paced offense, falling behind quickly with freshman Annikah Carpio being the sole challenge to Pinewood’s defense. Carpio put up eight points that quarter including two threes, and kept Notre Dame in the game with her smooth ball handling. As the end of the quarter neared, the Regents tired out and committed a string of sloppy fouls that sent the Panthers to the line multiple times, and kept losing the ball as Pinewood applied a strong full-court press, finishing with a 26-9 lead.
“[Jump] did a great job staying with it, and her teammates did a great job of finding her,” Scheppler said. “When she does have space to shoot it, she’s the best shooter in America. You’ve just got to get her the ball.”
Pinewood started the second quarter strong again, quickly securing a twenty point lead as they switched from relying on outside shots to post-work. Freshman Valentina Saric was the Panthers’ dominant force below the basket, putting up four points that quarter, while senior Trinity Copeland proved to be a key asset in Pinewood’s defense, diving to the ground multiple times to steal the ball from lagging Notre Dame. Besides a couple free throws forced from strong takes to the basket, the Regents were unable to compete offensively, falling behind significantly as the Panthers went into halftime with a 46-16 lead.
Notre Dame was noticeably tired within minutes of the second half, and Pinewood started to switch up its offense, alternating between sharp shooting from Jump, who finished with a game high of 21 points, and post work from Saric, who contributed 12 points as both players put up a trifecta of baskets from behind the line. The Panthers racked up ten of their fifteen three pointers throughout the second half, driving up their outside shooting percentage significantly as they finished the game at 34% from behind the line.
“We kept shooting the ball and we knew it was going to go in,” Jump said of the Panthers’ improvement from outside. “[Leung] hit two [three-pointers] right from the beginning and it took everyone else a while to keep going, but [Scheppler] kept telling us, ‘Next one’s going in.’”
Sophomore Annika Decker was a key defender for Pinewood throughout the second half, acting as the most consistent rebounder on both ends despite being one of the shorter players on the court, and leading several fast breaks for Pinewood as she stole ball after ball from exhausted Notre Dame. Pinewood went on its longest run of the game while the Regents put up a single basket that quarter, starting the final eight minutes at 77-18.
Pinewood welcomes Priory at home on Tuesday, while Notre Dame hosts Eastside Prep that night.
