PETALUMA, Calif - Petaluma’s Girls took down rival and league leader Casa Grande 49-44 on Tuesday night in front of an enthusiastic crowd in Petaluma.
Mandy O’Keefe grabbed two crucial offensive rebounds on free throw misses with the Trojans up one with under 30 seconds to play. She was able to get it in the hands of Taylor Iacopi, who was fouled and calmly sunk two free throws to put Petaluma up 47-44 with 14 seconds left.
“Those rebounds were so critical. We needed it because we kept missing free throws,” said Petaluma head coach Sophie Bihn.
Emma Reese tried to tie the game with a three, but could not get the roll, and the ball was rebounded by Mallory O’Keefe, who sunk her free throws with 1.6 seconds left, and the celebration started on the west side of town.
To put the icing on the cake for Petaluma, Sheriene Arikat needed 12 points to get up to 1,000 for her career. She decided to score 15 points in the first half alone, and with 2:32 to go in the second quarter, she scored points 999 and 1,000 on her signature spin move in the paint to put Petaluma up 20-16 at the time.
According to Bihn, the last Petaluma Lady Trojan to score 1,000 points was Joelle Krist.
“I just knew we could win this game, especially after the way we played against Vintage,” said Bihn. “I had a feeling we were back to being us.”
She was given a nice applause when announced at halftime, and the balloons as shown above postgame.
Nevin and Arikat scored the first four points for Petaluma, but they were scarce. Casa Grande didn’t get on the board until they got a three point play from Ashley Casper. Arikat would hit a floater to put Petaluma up 7-3, but Casa Grande got a late charge from Freshman Jaime McGaughey who scored the final four points to nod things up at seven apiece after one period of play.
A highly competitive second quarter came full circle. Nevin and Arikat got things going again, but some production from AJ Harris for Casa Grande tied things up, and then the Gauchos took their first lead of the game on a Trinity Merwin lay up. The teams exchanged scores and were nodded back up at 14.
Arikat and Marissa Temple eached scored in transition, and after the Gauchos scored on the other end of the floor, Arikat scored her aforementioned 1,000th point of her career.
The Trojans would finish up the quarter with more from Arikat and some production from Bella Weinberg to take some momentum and a 25-20 lead into the half over the VVAL leaders.
The murmurs started coming from the Petaluma side after Casa Grande quickly came back to tie the game within a minute of the second half beginning, as Casper and Emma Reese did the honors. Casper then picked up a technical foul, which sent Nevin to the charity stripe where she hit both of the free throws.
The Trojans turned the ball over on the ensuing possession and allowed McGaughey to tie the game back up, and the Gauchos would take the lead on a Merwin basket which brought their fans to the loudest cheers of the night.
Casa Grande (13-9, 9-1) went up by four on another Merwin bucket, but Petaluma stormed right back, with Mallory O’Keefe hitting a three, and Nevin finishing it off in the paint for a score and just like that, Petaluma had a 32-31 lead after the third stanza.
Down one in the fourth, Mallory O’Keefe would hit another three for Petaluma, and now up one, she would do it again which brought what seemed like the entire large section of the Petaluma fan section to their feet.
Reese would hit a three for Casa Grande, and Merwin would give them the lead on another easy lay up inside. The teams would trade two points to each other for a bit, with Petaluma taking a one point lead on a Mallory O’Keefe floater.
Arikat led Petaluma with 15 points, all in the first half. Mallory O'Keefe had 13 points off the bench, and Nevin chipped in 11 points.
Merwin had 10 points for Casa Grande
Petaluma (15-7, 5-4) wins their second straight overall, and beats their rivals for the second year in a row after not previously beating them for 10 straight years prior to the 2018-2019 season beginning. The Trojans host American Canyon on Thursday.
Casa Grande will have to sit on their first league loss for a bit, but will host Rodriguez-Fairfield in a non league game on Monday, before returning to league play on Tuesday of next week to host Justin Siena.
