It took a little time but once they got rolling it was all Archbishop Mitty-San Jose as the Cal-Hi Sports No. 1 team and the Maxpreps state and national top ranked Monarchs looked every bit the part on Saturday at the Leavey Center on the campus of the University of Santa Clara.
Northern Regional Open Division top-seeded Mitty broke it open after a 13-13 tie in the first quarter with a 20-5 run to win 78-54 over a young and game Cardinal Newman of Santa Rosa.
Newman was holding its own against Mitty but when Danielle Guglielmo hit a three-pointer at the buzzer to give Mitty a 16-13 lead after one quarter the tide turned big-time for Mitty.
“Dani’s shot to end the first was a definite momentum shift,” Mitty Coach Sue Phillips remarked
The bottom line is Mitty (28-2) was just too deep for Newman and once the Monarchs asserted themselves there was little doubt as to the outcome.
“In terms of depth they’re basically a college team,” Newman Coach Monica Mertle said.
St. Mary’s-bound Madeline Holland led four Monarchs in double-figure scoring with 20 points and nine rebounds with two assists. Super sophomore Haley Jones added 15 points, eight rebounds, eight assists and three steals. Guglielmo had 14 points on 4-of-7 from three-point range, Nicole Blakes chipped in with 1O points, and although she only had eight points Karisma Ortiz led the Mitty press and added six rebounds, six assists and three steals.
“Our depth has been a critical component and because of it we had the right tempo and controlled the ball. Plus, our pressure got to them tonight,” Phillips said.
Mitty forced 20 turnovers and only committed 12, and they out-rebounded Newman 37-27. The Monarchs also had 22 assisted baskets to only seven for the Cardinals.
For Cardinal Newman (30-4) they got 19 points and nine rebounds from University of Portland-bound Lauren Walker and 12 points from Maiya Flores.
The Cardinals were the defending CIF Division IV state champions but for Mertle and her girls this was an even bigger achievement.
“What these girls have accomplished far surpasses last year,” Mertle said. “To step up and not be satisfied with a divisional championship and to go this far in the Open Division when a lot of people overlooked us makes me incredibly proud of this team.”
"Hats off to Cardinal Newman," Phillips said. "They played an incredibly tough schedule and more than deserved to be here."
With the victory Mitty wins a record 12th Northern Regional championship in a record 20th appearance. The only team with more regional titles and state championship appearances is Brea-Olinda and their 13 Southern Regional titles.
“It was a total team effort. Everyone played well but there’s always room for improvement,” Holland remarked.
How much Mitty can improve going into a match-up with Clovis West-Fresno for the CIF Open title game at 6 p.m. next Saturday at the Golden 1 Arena is a bit of a question since the last two games against St. Mary’s-Stockton in the semifinals and now against Newman the Monarchs have looked almost unbeatable.
“Right now I wouldn’t say we’re unbeatable but we’re pretty tough,” Phillips remarked.
Mitty will certainly need to be tough against a Clovis West team that won the D1 Southern Regional with a 53-44 victory over Long Beach Poly. In December the two met in the Iolani Classic in Hawaii and it took overtime for the Monarchs to prevail. Both teams were also in the Joe Smith Division of the Nike TOC where Mitty faltered and suffered both of its losses while Clovis West won the tournament causing some to say the Golden Eagles deserve to be ahead of the Monarchs.
What anyone says or thinks won’t matter because it will all be decided on the Golden 1 Arena floor.
Clovis West will be looking for a first-ever state championship and a first-ever girls state basketball title for the CIF Central Section.
Mitty and Phillips have won six state championships but never in the Open Division since the CIF went to that format in 2013. The 1999 team that went 31-0 and got Phillips the State Coach of the Year award also was the State Team of the Year after winning the CIF Division I state championship.
