LAFAYETTE, Calif. – It’s been quite a year for the Acalanes girls basketball team. Fielding a young squad, coach Margaret Gartner guided the Dons to an undefeated mark in league play, a berth in the NCS Open Division playoffs - where they fell just short against Carondelet - and finally a home game in the first round of the CIF State Division I playoffs.
But on Tuesday, the ride finally came to an end. Tenth-seeded Pinewood, behind superb play from three players in particular, overcame a rough first quarter and withstood a fourth quarter rally to beat No. 7 Acalanes 58-50. The victory advances the Panthers to a quarterfinal matchup with No. 2 Oakland Tech.
Ava Uhrich turned in a monster performance for Pinewood (17-11), compiling 19 points, 21 rebounds, five assists, and two steals. Alex Facelo buried seven treys and scored 25 points, and Jolyn Ding tallied 11 points, eight rebounds, and eight assists.
The trio, besides combining for nearly all of its team's points, was able to come alive after the Dons staked a 20-7 first quarter lead. The Panthers headed into halftime trailing by one and started the fourth up by 15, thanks to breaking down the scrappy Acalanes defense, firing long passes and creating open opportunities often close to the basket or deep on the wing.
“We were getting the open shots,” Uhrich said. “Doc’s whole thing is just shooting, next one’s in. The coaches told me after they were trapping right on the rebound, ‘If you get it, we trust you, go.’”
“They got a run that we weren’t able to stop,” Gartner said. “Now we have to play catch-up, now we have to take a lot of chances, which means leaving people open. We rushed our offense a little bit.”
Acalanes (21-8) took 3:15 to score its first hoop, but once it did, the baskets came fast and furious, with freshman Cameron Thorton sinking three shots from beyond the arc, and Sophie Chinn netting another six points. In the fourth, Karyss Lacanlale, who was uncharacteristically quiet from the field in the first half, scored eight of her 12 points. Ariana Hallstrom finished with a team-high 13, Chinn also had 12, and Thornton registered 11. It was the middle quarters that were problematic; the Dons cashed in on just five field goals in those two periods combined.
“Defensively I thought we played really well after the first quarter, in terms of limiting them to one shot, challenging their shots,” Pinewood coach Doc Scheppler said. “We have to handle the pressure better, and get open better.”
Both teams played with a short bench and youth. Acalanes played without senior Emily Du, and started an all-sophomore lineup, while Uhrich was the only senior for Pinewood to appear; both teams saw just six players take the floor.
“It was a great comeback win for us, playing on their home court,” Scheppler added. “Our whole philosophy of playing the game is threes, floaters, and finishes. Ava was able to get the easy baskets in terms of transition, and getting some offensive board putbacks.”
“It’s always good to remember our accomplishments this year, but just remember the leadership the seniors brought,” Chinn, one of many Dons to emerge from the locker room in tears, said. “A lot of our shots didn’t fall - they made a lot of threes, they pass the the ball well. We didn’t give up, we fought to the end and I think that was a real positive for us.”
