Athlete of the Week: Crystal Springs Uplands’ Jemma Lacap

“Playing against them is always fun because I know a lot of them,” Lacap said. “So, it’s always a fun game.”

Lacap and the Gryphons had plenty of fun in last Thursday’s semifinal showdown, rallying late for a 50-46 victory to advance to the CCS Division V championship stage for the second straight year. And it was Lacap who led the way, totaling a game-high 18 points, while adding three steals and two clutch assists, while earning Daily Journal Athlete of the Week honors for her efforts.

It didn’t seem nearly as fun for Crystal Springs when the two teams met the first week of the season in non-league play in December. The Gryphons fell at home to Summit Shasta 40-36. It was something of a wakeup call, seeing as Crystal Springs entered the season as the reigning CCS Division champions.

But the youthful Crystal Springs team with no seniors on its roster was aware the two teams could meet again in the playoffs.

“We knew when we lost to them that wasn’t our best game, and we would be ready the second time we played them,” Lacap said.

The Gryphons got their wish, rematching with the Black Bears in the CCS playoffs. But, on paper, competing with Summit Shasta seemed like a tall order, as the Black Bears cruised to a Private School Athletic League North Division championship with an undefeated 10-0 record, earning them the No. 2 seed in the Division V tourney.

Crystal Springs didn’t enjoy nearly as much success in their first year in the West Bay Athletic League Foothill Division. Moving up from the lower Skyline Division proved a big leap, as the young Gryphons posted a mere 2-8 record in league play, finishing in fifth place out of six teams. Even though they entered the Division V tourney as the No. 3 seed, the Gryphons did so with a mere 8-10 overall record.

The Gryphons play in a tougher league, though. A much tougher league. And Crystal Springs’ first-year head coach Dave Weinstein wasn’t adverse to his team — coming off the program’s first-ever CCS title in 2021 — attending the school of hard knocks.

“That builds character,” Weinstein said. “And when you get to playing these teams, you figure out how to play with them, and we did.”

Still, the Gryphons had to reinvent themselves in the playoffs. In the regular-season finale — a lopsided 60-32 loss at Woodside Priory — junior forward Morgan Cook was lost for the remainder of the season with a knee injury. Crystal Springs is already not the tallest team. And suddenly they were relying of reserves Angelica Reese Estrada and junior Abby Shen to give the team more minutes.

That’s where the experience of Lacap loomed large.

“Jemma, one of her many strengths is attacking the basket,” Weinstein said. “So, when she had chances, she did.”

It took one half of basketball to settle down the game. But with the game going back-and-forth heading into the second half, Crystal Springs won a contrast of styles. Summit Shasta likes to play fast and loves to pressure with a trapping full-court defense.

One of the benefits of playing in the talents WBAL Foothill with the likes of Pinewood, Menlo School and Notre Dame-Belmont, however, is the Gryphons learned to play fast.

“What we saw with [Summit Shasta] is they’re all about how fast they can go and how much they press you,” Weinstein said. “But against us, that doesn’t really work too well because we like to go fast too.”

Slowing the game down in the second half only benefited Crystal’s seven-player roster. More importantly, the half-court sets gave Lacap the chance to power to the hoop, pull up for short jump shots, and distribute the ball for a pair of key 3s from Estrada.

“[Lacap] picked her spots to finish,” Weinstein said. “She played a really smart game with the ball in her hands.”

Lacap would go on to hit two key free throws in the closing minutes.

And while the semifinal victory would be their last of the tournament — the Gryphons, despite Saturday’s double-double from junior Riley Xu of 18 points and 10 rebounds, went on to fall 55-45 in the Division V finals to Priory — Lacap and company had a sense of mission accomplished with the win in the semis. After all, it assured them not just of a return to the CCS finals, but also that their season would continue beyond CCS, as the final two teams in the tournament earned automatic bids to the CIF Nor Cal tournament.

“We were all very excited,” Lacap said. “I remember when the buzzer went off, we were all screaming. … That kind of felt like that was the championship game just because of the crowd that came out to see us and just because we won against Shasta.”

Lacap not only proved a team player on the court, but off it as well. Yes, despite living within walking distance of Summit Shasta, she still traveled to the game riding the team bus from Hillsborough to Daly City.

“Even though I was just saying I could walk there if I wanted to,” Lacap said.