SAN JOSE, CA -- Pinewood’s Akayla Hackson and Chloe Eackles came up with huge plays down the stretch in both regulation and overtime as the Panthers defeated Bishop O’Dowd, 69-64 Saturday in the Presentation Shootout.
Hackson led the way with 18 points, 13 rebounds, seven steals, and four assists, Eackles tallied 15 points and seven boards, and Hannah Jump sank a trio of three’s and had 13 points. Pinewood (4-2) won its second straight against an elite opponent, having topped Salesian on Dec. 8.
The Panthers trailed Bishop O’Dowd (4-2) for the majority of the first three quarters. But in the fourth the Dragons went cold while Pinewood had its best quarter yet. Hackson hit a three-pointer and converted a three-point play within 20 seconds in the last 1:16 of regulation. Pace’s two free throws with 25 ticks remaining made it 58-55, but Eackles made a three from the wing with about 10 seconds left, and last gasps by O’Dowd fell just short.
In the overtime, Eackles and Hackson struck again. In the final minute, Eackles rebounded her own miss and found Erin Poindexter-McHan underneath for a key bucket, and made a pair of free throws. Hackson came up with a huge steal with her team up by one and made two ensuing free throws of her own. A moving screen called on the Dragons and another pair from the charity stripe by Poindexter-McHan sealed the victory.
“It’s a game of runs,” Hackson said. “If we just stop their runs on D and then pick it up on offense, we’ll be fine. They’re a great team. But we have to keep our head up. We have to keep working.”
Aerial Chavarin led the Dragons with 18 points. Myah Pace contributed 16 points and 12 rebounds, and Zakiya Mahoney added 15 points. Pinewood finished the game 25-for-32 on free throws.
“It was a great win for us, playing a marquee program like them,” Pinewood coach Doc Scheppler said. “We made sure we minimized easy baskets, get offensive boards. When it came time to hit big shots, we did.”
