Cap makes it rain in CCS quarterfinals

Then, with the game tied with a minute to go, Hailey Hoff snuck back onto the court following a timeout and knocked down back-to-back 3-pointers to send Cap to a 55-48 victory Tuesday night in San Bruno, sending her home crowd, and her teammates for that matter, into a frenzy of celebration.

“I don’t say a lot about my own kid,” said Steve Hoff, Cap’s head coach and Hailey Hoff’s father. “The only thing I will say about her is the coach’s kid better be able to shoot.”

Shoot she did, totaling six 3-pointers on the night while going for a game-high 21 points.

And after she scored four 3s during a red-hot, video-game-like first quarter — staking Cap to a 21-14 lead — it looked as though the Mustangs might run away with the win.

Westmoor, though, turned a 10-point deficit around in a hurry. The Rams trailed 32-22 with 1:28 to go in the first half but carried a 15-2 run into the third period. And when senior Izzy Nodar (12 points) flipped the script with her fourth 3-pointer of the night, it gave the Rams their first lead of the night at 37-34, and had them poised to steal Cap’s thunder.

“We just wanted to come out with energy,” Nodar said. “In the first half we were kind of lacking. Just play hard and get all the 50-50 balls, and just work on the mistakes we made in the first half.”

Foul trouble proved to be the Rams’ Achilles’ heel, though, as senior center Teuila Tuiasosopo incurred her fourth foul midway through the third quarter. The 5-11 beast in the paint sat more minutes than she played in the second half. And while she still finished with 10 points and nine rebounds, Westmoor’s style of feasting on her put-backs off the offensive boards was non-existent most of the night.

“It is a totally different game (if she’s in there),” Westmoor head coach Rhod Banda said. “I just kept looking back — ‘Should I put her in now? Should I put her in now?’ The game’s really close so we can afford to keep her off. Once she’s back in, she can get those cheap, easy buckets.”

Cap went on to outrebound Westmoor 47-32, including a double-double performance from forward Jaisa Gamble. The junior totaled 13 points and a game-high 12 rebounds. Junior center Bailey O’Mahoney added 10 rebounds.

And it was a big put-back by Gamble with under a minute to go that turned the tide for Cap. Westmoor opened the second half hitting 6 of its first 7 from the floor, and would go on to outscore the Mustangs 16-8 in the period. But it would have been worse if not for Gamble’s put-back to cut into the Rams’ best lead of the night at 41-36.

Gamble scored once more in the quarter on a slick assist pass from Mia Giampolo to score an alley-oop style layup to make it 41-40.

Then in the fourth quarter, things got a little nuts. Cap sophomore Arianna Jordan left the game due to injury 30 seconds into the period. Two minutes later, Hailey Hoff hobbled off the floor. Then a minute after that, Gamble fouled out, leaving the Mustangs in dire straits.

“We faced it all year long,” Steve Hoff said. “It’s been every week where we’ve faced this kind of adversity, so I think it prepared us a little bit better. I think we’re kind of used to the back-against-the-wall type thing. And we’re used to injuries. So, everybody just kind of steps up.”

That’s when sixth-man Crystle Gumban came to life. The junior guard gave the Mustangs the lead back at 42-41 with one of the plays of the night, taking a defensive rebound coast-to-coast for a layup. Then, after Westmoor senior Mariah Palasigui hit a free throw to give the Rams the lead at 44-43, the Mustangs turned it back around at the other end with a no-look bounce pass from Gumban to a wide-open O’Mahoney under the bucket to put Cap up 45-44.

“I saw the middle person come up,” Gumban said. “So, that’s how I knew [she was open] and I bounce-passed to Bailey.”

The Mustangs stayed in front until Westmoor’s Rachael Jian went to the line, hitting two free throws to tie it 48-48. Then, following a 30-second timeout, Hailey Hoff stepped up, delivered the Hollywood ending, and sent Cap to victory.

“It was always going to be a battle of tempo vs. physicality,” Steve Hoff said. “Their physicality vs. our tempo. And I don’t’ know that we did a great job of pushing tempo and then limiting turnovers. I think that we can do a better job and we have one day to figure it out.”

Capuchino now advances to the CCS Division III semifinals, traveling to Aptos High School Thursday night to face archrival Mills. No. 3 Mills advanced Tuesday with a 50-42 win over Saratoga.

It was an emotional aftermath for Westmoor, a team that overcame injury after injury this season. The Rams started their regular lineup just three times this year, and were without junior point guard Janella Echavez down the stretch due to a knee injury.

Nodar said the team touched on some upbeat notes in the postgame locker room.

“Just how it was a great season and how this team was unbreakable, the bond we built with everyone this year,” Nodar said. “And how it was a great ride. We could have made it further but it was a great ride.”