BURLINGAME, Calif. — After posting losing league records in each of Ron Rossi’s first two seasons as Capuchino’s head coach, the Mustangs have made a huge leap forward this winter, and they are now squarely in contention for the Peninsula Athletic League-Ocean Division title.
In Capuchino’s first true test of league play Wednesday evening, the Mustangs took all the drama out of the game in the first quarter, scoring the first 15 points and never looking back in a 38-24 road victory over Burlingame.
“We have the seniors who have been with us. Some of the juniors have been with us,” Rossi said. “The key is playing together at practice. I haven’t had a team that competes that hard at practice against each other.”
Sophomore Lorelai Shinn helped key Capuchino’s hot start, knocking down a pair of 3-pointers in the opening quarter and finishing with a game-high 12 points — the only player on either team in double figures. But for the Mustangs (12-2, 5-0 PAL-Ocean), the offense runs through senior captain and point guard Kailee Gonzales, a vocal leader who can distribute the ball and score herself.
“We’ve been working on moving the ball against their defense,” Rossi said. “We scouted really well. I said, ‘We’re going to get nice open shots in rhythm.’ And we hit them. We got lucky; we hit a bunch early.”
Gonzales nailed two 3-pointers of her own in the first half on her way to an eight-point night. She was also active on the defensive end, holding the Panthers (9-7, 4-1) to just two first-quarter points.
“When we play, I always tell (my teammates) that you win a game on defense. You don’t win on offense,” Gonzales said. “It starts with defense and rebounding their offensive shots. That’s where we start all the games.”
Burlingame struggled to even get shots up for much of the game, committing 22 turnovers. The Panthers shot just 9-for-39 from the floor and 2-for-8 at the free throw line as they were held to 26 points or fewer for the sixth time this season.
“They were just more intense than us. We weren’t ready to match their intensity,” Burlingame head coach Ned Diamond said. “They were aggressive when we got the ball down low and ripped it from us. They out-rebounded us. They did a nice job. We usually score a lot (off) offensive rebounds, but they boxed us out really well, so that frustrated us a little. And then we just turned the ball over.”
The Panthers cut their deficit to seven in the second quarter after Capuchino’s 15-0 start, but the Mustangs responded with a 9-2 run to end the first half, then held Burlingame to two points again in the third quarter. Adeline Uhrich, who hit two of the Panthers’ four 3-pointers in the game, led Burlingame with eight points.
“We just weren’t patient enough against their zone,” Diamond said. “We just had one pass and shot or just tried to force some things. They were very well-disciplined on offense and defense, and I don’t know why, but I just don’t think we brought our usual intensity.”
The win was the ninth in a row for Capuchino, and with the exception of last Friday’s 34-30 victory at El Camino, all nine have come by double-digit margins. The Mustangs now share first place in the division with Woodside and will face the Wildcats on the road next Tuesday, following Friday’s home date with Westmoor.
Burlingame is also back in action Friday, hosting Terra Nova, which fell in a close game at Woodside on Wednesday.
