Capuchino girls’ basketball means business; takes down Westmoor 66-37

“She’s kind of the heart to this whole thing,” Capuchino head coach Steve Hoff said.

The Mustangs (4-4) erupted in the second half to take down Westmoor 66-37 in Tuesday’s non-league matchup in San Bruno, but it took some time for Cap to find its footing.

Hailey Hoff would get it going after the halftime break, totaling five 3-pointers en route to a game-high 24 points. And Afeaki — playing her first full game of the season after getting injured on the second possession of Cap’s Dec. 2 opener — also hit stride in the second half to total 21 points.

It was Jordan’s gutsy play that kept Cap in the fight amid an early back-and-forth. The fourth-year varsity senior went for 12 points and eight rebounds, crashing boards from the perimeter to help the Mustangs keep pace despite Westmoor outrebounding them 33-27.

“Honestly, I just try playing my hardest,” Jordan said. “Everything I play for is my team, my parents, my family who watches. And I just play my hardest for them each game.”

Jordan is one of five fourth-year varsity players for Cap, all of whom Steve Hoff has coached since their AAU club basketball days in grade school. Cap’s head coach said Jordan’s rebounding skills are no fluke. In fact, back in those early days, she was a natural as a post player.

“She started out in club for us playing the 4,” Steve Hoff said. “And she just never grew. But the thing about her is she’s ultra-tough, she runs like the wind blows. So, when I have her in there, I want to be pressed. Because if you can stop her, you deserve to beat us.”

There was no stopping her Tuesday, this while the rest of the Cap starting five was out of sorts in the early going.

The usually dagger-sound Hailey Hoff didn’t connect with a 3-pointer for most of the first half. And Afeaki, after totaling eight first-quarter points, sat for most of the second period. But Jordan kept the offense flowing and converted a key and-1 late in the opening half, until Cap’s 3-point game hit its stride in the second half.

“The past few games we haven’t been getting our shots early on,” Jordan said. “But I think if we just communicate more and find each other, it really works.”

Westmoor (3-3) came out dominating the boards, and forced seven lead changes early in the first half. But with the score tied 18-18, Hailey Hoff finally produced a three-point play — not on a 3-pointer, but on an and-1 after drawing a foul on a cutting underhand layup to give the Mustangs the lead for good.

“The hard way,” Steve Hoff said.

Hailey Hoff’s free throw put Cap up 21-18, and Jordan added an and-1 to up the lead to 24-20. Then, just before the half, Hailey Hoff popped her first 3 of night from the perimeter — a sign of things to come in the second half.

“We know at this point everybody pays attention to Hailey,” Steve Hoff said. “So, we’re starting to get used to it, she’s starting to get used to it. It’s a whole different animal when you go from just playing to having everybody looking to take you out of the program.

“I think she started to get it going,” he said. “And when you’ve got her going, and Kiki going, we’re tough. That’s a two-headed animal right there.”

Cap shot 41.4% from the field throughout, including an 11-of-17 clip in the third quarter, hitting the throttle to the tune of a 14-2 run to open the second half.

Afeaki — a University of San Diego commit — did a little bit of everything in the third period, totaling two assists, an offensive rebound for a put-back, and an and-1 with 1:14 remaining in the quarter to put the Mustangs up 51-27.

“I wanted to ease her into a little bit,” Steve Hoff said. “And then in the second half it was like, we’re going to dump it to her and let her go to work.”

Westmoor has been plagued by the turnover bug all season, and Tuesday was no different. While the Mustangs minded the ball, committing just nine turnovers throughout, the Rams committed 24 turnovers throughout, many of them on simple traveling violations.

“We always play a great first half,” Westmoor head coach Rhod Banda said. “And then in the second half, teams just put pressure on us.”

Westmoor has just one club player on its roster in junior center Jazmynn Sciancalepore-Garcia, who totaled a double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds.

“Our squad’s really young,” Banda said. “We’re pretty good. I think we’ll get there. I’m proud of how hard they work.”

Westmoor senior Ava Ravu connected with a pair of second-half 3s to add eight points. Cap senior Sarah Chavez finished with a team-high nine rebounds.