On the game's very first play, Woodside High's Shakara Haynes drove through the lane, jumped high and let the ball fly -- swat.
Sequoia's 6-foot-3 post, Ayeesha Ellis, barely had to jump before stopping Haynes cold. The play showed what was already obvious: the Cherokees were bigger and stronger, and they had a three- to four-inch height advantage at nearly every position. Still, a game Woodside squad kept the game close until host Sequoia used a 17-7 run in the third quarter to pull away for a 40-30 Peninsula Athletic League South Division victory on Friday.
"I'll give it to my girls -- they had a lot of fight in them," Sequoia coach Fine Lauese said. "Woodside came out very aggressive, and I guess we had to wait for our game to come to us. We were forcing too many shots, and that's not too surprising in a rival game when your emotions are really high."
Both teams were challenged offensively, combining for just 28 first-half points. Leading 16-12, the Cherokees (1-1 PAL South, 8-8) received a big boost from Pauline Makasini to open the third quarter. She hit a 3-pointer coming out of the break, and a few minutes later drained another trey to give Sequoia a 24-15 lead with 5:30 left in the third quarter. Spanning the beginning of the third to the opening minutes of the fourth quarter, the Cherokees outscored Woodside (0-2, 9-9) 19-7, capped by Makasini's floater in the lane to give Sequoia its largest lead of the game, 35-19, with 6:48 remaining.
Moments later, Woodside ended a scoring drought that lasted 6:13, on Latisha Wilson's putback. The Wildcats got to within 35-26 on Diana Ramies' 3-pointer, but that's as close as they would get. Woodside was at its best when it pressured every Sequoia ballhandler, resulting in forced passes and turnovers. The Wildcats took their last lead at 12-11 on Grace Rhodes' layup with 1:01 left in the second quarter, but the Cherokees finished the last minute on a 5-0 run, capped by Margret Pupunu's fallaway jumper in the lane.
Pupunu displayed poise and confidence in dealing with the Wildcats' pressure defense, deftly handling the ball the length of the floor and through traffic. Pupunu and Makasini led Sequoia with 10 points each, while Ellis added eight and Jenna Gauger (game-high 10 rebounds) and Heather Hoeft six apiece. Ramies and Wilson paced Woodside with eight points each. For the Wildcats, their struggles were titanic. They shot just 9 of 61 (14.8 percent) from the field, while Sequoia finished 15 of 54. Lauese acknowledged that the game was far from a masterpiece.
"It was an ugly game," he said. "The first half was hard; no one could score and it was a struggle. But I think both teams were able to get going in the second half and thankfully, we were able to get going a little more."
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Capuchino 52, Hillsdale 31
Adele Faataui scored a game-high 22 points as the Mustangs evened their PAL Central Division record at 1-1 with a tougher-than-it-looked win over the winless Knights.
Hillsdale (0-2 Central Division) held a lead for most of the first quarter before a Justina Wong 3-pointer put the Mustangs up 11-8 with 14 seconds left in the quarter.
Capuchino threatened to run away with the game in the second quarter. After Hillsdale's Shannon Murphy hit a bucket to cut the Mustangs' lead to 11-10, Capuchino went on a 6-0 run to take a 17-10 lead. The Mustangs managed only three points the rest of the half and Hillsdale only four as the teams went into the locker room with Capuchino leading 20-14.
The Mustangs finally put the Knights away in the third quarter, outscoring them 21-5.
Besides Faataui, Bianca Mercurio scored 10 for the Mustangs. Hillsdale was paced 16 points from Nicole Pitts while Murphy chipped in with 10.<
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