Lady Warriors crowned in thrilling PAL finale

“Last year we were heartbroken,” South City junior Becca Tasi said. “We worked so hard and we really thought we were going to get the win.”

In a rematch that saw 10 lead changes, including four in the fourth quarter, Cedeno delivered the final one by crushing an eight-foot floater with nine seconds remaining as South City claimed its first PAL tournament championship since 2000 with a 59-58 victory over reigning three-time champion M-A Saturday night at the Cabrillo Union School District Event Center in Half Moon Bay.

The Lady Warriors reaction this time around?

“So happy, I just wanted to cry,” Tasi said.

While Cedeno and Hoyem starred by sharing the game-high with 19 points apiece, the thriller showcased great depth by each South City and M-A. It was South City sophomore Lafu Malepeai who sealed the win with her fourth steal of the night, intercepting a pass at midcourt while in the full-court press to disallow M-A from trying for a last-second shot.

“It all came down to, right when the girls stopped, she made eye-contact [with her teammate] and I knew they were going to make that pass right there,” Malepeai said.

M-A seemed to have solved the full-court pressure defense of South City. This, along with the Warriors’ 3-point marksmanship, helped South City build a substantial first-half lead. Freshman guard Alex Salise drilled her second consecutive 3 with under a minute to go in the first quarter, giving the Warriors a 14-11 lead, sparking a 19-4 run that helped give South City its best lead of the night at 30-15.

The Lady Bears rallied back before the half though, with guard Catharine Chai answering with the hot hand from beyond the arc. Hoyem wrestled six of her game-high 13 rebounds in the second quarter, and the freshman Chai cut into South City’s lead by drilling two 3s at the end of the half — en route to scoring 16 points — to leave M-A trailing 30-25 at the break.

“We fought back and I’m proud of my team for not giving up,” M-A head coach Markisha Coleman said.

At the start of the second half, Chai fed an assist pass to junior Erica Fischer for a quick 3, then the next time down Chai banked a six-foot, pull-up jumper to tie it 30-30, and it was game on. Chai scored eight points in the third quarter, including consecutive breakaway steal-and-scores to build the Bears’ first lead of the half at 37-33.

“[Chai] is just learning how to run a team and I think she came in and did great,” Coleman said. “The way she performed tonight, we were very excited.”

South City stormed back with a pair of 3s from Salise and Cedeno, then Cedeno converted on a crafty dribble-drive and quickly the Warriors swung the advantage back with a 41-37 lead. They held it until the closing seconds of the third quarter when M-A scored in transition with senior guard Carly McLanahan pushing an assist pass to Fischer on a layup to tie it 45-45.

Sophomore guard Linnea Lindblom gave M-A the lead 47-45 on the team’s first possession of the fourth quarter. And the Bears would enjoy the advantage throughout most of the period until South City tied it 54-54 with 1:55 remaining on a bucket from Malepeai.

On the ensuing possession, McLanahan had a 3-point attempt swirl out, but Fischer crashed for the offensive board. The junior kicked it to a driving McLanahan, who drew the foul. It was the only time in the game an M-A player besides Hoyem went to the line to shoot two. The senior knocked down 1 of 2 — the Bears shot 9 of 12 from the stripe throughout — giving M-A a 55-54 advantage.

At the other end, though, the Warriors not only converted a monster and-1, they took control of the game clock. Cedeno conducted South City’s offense beautifully, taking a drive around a backdoor screen to draw M-A’s defense on the right side. As two M-A bodies converged, Cedeno threaded a bounce pass underneath to Tasi.

“I don’t know if there’s a better decision maker in that spot in the PAL,” Carion said.

Tasi hadn’t been shooting particularly well up to that point.

“It was a good pass,” Tasi said. “I was kind of nervous. I thought I wasn’t going to catch it.”

Not only did Tasi convert with 50 seconds to go, however, she also drew the foul and knocked down the free throw to give South City a 57-55 lead.

“We were in a really good spot because we knew we were going to get the last shot,” Carion said. “And we were thinking, ‘no 3s, no 3s, no 3s.’”

Even though M-A played for the tie, a 3-point play is precisely what happened.

South City senior center Jerlene Miller had fouled out of the game midway through the fourth quarter, leaving Tasi to defend against Hoyem. And while the initial defense was successful as Hoyem missed a turnaround jumper, the Bears’ 6-1 center battled for the offensive rebound and converted while drawing the foul, then hitting the free throw to put M-A up 58-57 with 28 seconds to go.

South City and M-A played most facets of the game equally. The Warriors shot 41.5 percent from the field, while the Bears shot 40.8 percent. M-A committed just one more turnover than South City for a 16-15 differential. The Bears did substantially outrebound South City 38-30.

But the difference-maker for the Warriors was Cedeno, and with the shot clock off Big Blue went to its superstar. And the three-time PAL North Division MVP delivered a clutch shot with a cool touch. With the clock running below 10 seconds, Cedeno took a pick-and-roll around the left side and got airborne over a single M-A defender to hit the game-winning floater.

M-A has captured four previous PAL tournament titles — tying with Terra Nova for the most in the tourney’s 19-year history — first winning in 2008 before its recent three-peat from ’15-17.

South City now advances to the Central Coast Section Division III bracket at the No. 1 seed, opening play Saturday in the quarterfinals at Aptos High School.

M-A earned the No. 1 seed in the CCS Division I bracket. The Bears open play Saturday in the quarterfinals at Santa Clara High School.