End of an era as McKenna Woliczko plays her last game at Mitty

Woliczko has appeared in three of Mitty’s Open Division state final appearances, with losses to Etiwanda-Rancho Cucamonga in 2023 and ’24. A season-ending knee injury as a junior cost the 6-2 forward a chance to play in the Monarchs’ 75-59 loss to Etiwanda last season.

“I wouldn’t say it was even just last year,” Woliczko said. “Just the past three years, coming up short. I mean, who doesn’t want to win state? You kind of just have to play in the moment. And all of us wanted it, especially for Coach. This would have been her first Open Division state championship, and I would have loved to have been a part of that.”

But, Woliczko attended her first state championship game as an eighth grader, making the trip across town after playing in a travel softball tournament for the Cal Nuggets earlier in the day. It was a glimpse of the future at Golden 1 for the promising basketball prospect — a San Bruno native who likely would have attended Capuchino had she not gone to Mitty — sitting behind the Monarchs’ bench to witness great head coach Sue Phillips on the state championship stage.

Mitty fell in the 2022 Open Division state title game 85-61 to a Sierra Canyon-Chatsworth, a team led by then-junior standout Juju Watkins. It was Sierra Canyon that would come back to haunt Woliczko and the Monarchs this season.

The haunting happened indirectly. With Mitty not facing Sierra Canyon since that fateful March 12, 2022, game, Woliczko has never played against a Trailblazers team in the era defined by guard Jerzy Robinson, currently the No. 5 senior in the nation, who stepped into the spotlight as a sophomore in 2023-24 to follow in Watkins’ footsteps. But Ontario Christian knows Sierra Canyon well, having fallen to the Trailblazers 69-62 two weeks ago in the Southern Section Ford Open Division girls’ basketball championship finals.

After Woliczko recorded a double-double Saturday of 19 points and 10 rebounds, a tick below her season average in both categories, Ontario Christian head coach Aundre Cummigs had a quick response as to what prepared his Lady Knights for the physicality of Woliczko and Mitty.

“Jerzy Robinson!” he said.

Ontario Christian guard Tatianna Griffin was tasked with defending Woliczko, and the 6-foot sophomore tackled the assignment with abandon. Griffin finished just shy of a double-double of her own, with 12 points and nine rebounds. But it was her aggressive defense that made Woliczko’s life miserable, especially in limiting her to seven points in the first half.

“Jerzy taught us a big lesson in terms of how to prepare physically, how to prepare for a player that’s so good,” Cummigs said. “And I think Tati stepped up and did a really good job on McKenna. Just contesting all shots, rebounding with her. I’m proud of Tati and her defense.”

Exactly how physical Griffin and the Knights were in defending Woliczko was a source of contention for Phillips, who was quick to point out Mitty got to the line for just seven free throws in the game, all in the first half.

“I’m disappointed we didn’t shoot a free throw in the second half,” Phillips said. “You can read into that however you want.”

After getting dropped to the floor more times than she scored points in the first half, Woliczko adjusted in the second — pivoting to a midrange shot that turned a 28-27 halftime deficit into a 39-all tie heading into the fourth quarter.

“I don’t think the physicality changed,” Phillips said. “I think it remained to be the same, and that’s something that I was trying to emphasize, were the shoves in the back and the things off the ball, hoping to get to the line with some of the off-ball contact. But we also wanted to take away some of the beating she was taking inside, and try to get her to the high post, and was pretty successful.

“But we’ve got to get on the glass,” she said. “Got to get on the glass, because I thought there was some missed opportunities there to crash the boards.”

Mitty outrebounded Ontario Christian 37-30 throughout, but a chance to secure an offensive board late in the game cost the Monarchs dearly. Woliczko had just tied it 41-41 on a layup early in the fourth quarter courtesy of a tic-tac-toe assist pass from sophomore Maliya Hunter.

The Monarchs got a stop and got the ball into the hands of Woliczko for a midrange look, but her shot glanced out toward the baseline. Two Mitty players were closest to it, and got hands on it, only to have it careen off a foot and out of bounds — possession Ontario Christian.

The Knights responded with a 7-0 run, with dynamo junior guard Kaleena Smith connecting for a 3 from the elbow en route to a game-high 24 points, and Griffin and junior forward Skylah Archer following with layups to push it to 48-41 with 5:08 to play.

It was a gutsy effort for Ontario Christian, fielding just six players and losing its top rebounder, freshman Chloe Jenkins, to injury just days prior to Saturday’s state championship showdown. Then, Cummigs’ abbreviated roster nearly took another hit in the first half Saturday, when Griffin took a spill and stayed on the Golden 1 Center court for several minutes before hobbling off as the air was sucked out of Ontario Christian’s side of the arena.

Griffin ultimately returned, and quickly, logging 31 minutes, 29 seconds of game time overall.

“I don’t know if we’d be sitting here talking to you all as winners,” Cummigs said of potentially losing Griffin. “It shaped a lot, and she fought through it. But I truly believe we have trust in our girls. I’m not ever going to say we were going to lose a game, regardless of who’s playing for me, I’m going to get my best foot. But it would have been challenging because of the defensive end against McKenna, to try to find someone to replace Tati, and her aggressiveness and her strength. To bang with McKenna would have been tough to do.”

In a performance reminiscent of the 1986 Gene Hackman classic “Hoosiers,” four of Ontario Christian’s starters hardly left the floor. Archer played 30:44, Smith 31:48, and junior Dani Robinson never subbed out, playing 32 minutes. Mitty’s deep roster was paced by junior Ze’ni Patterson at 30:41, while Woliczko overcame two early fouls to play 29:22.

“It’s not for a lack of effort or dedication by this group,” Phillips said. “This is a tremendously dedicated and committed group. Absolutely a pleasure to coach. They’re champions in my eyes because they walk the talk, and they have a winner’s mentality. They came up short in some critical possessions, but it wasn’t from, in my opinion, a lack of talent or a lack of preparation. It’s just unfortunate.”

Unfortunate for Woliczko, who had what could have been a fairy-tale ending to her Mitty career compared to a Shakespearean tragedy.

In the big picture, that’s hardly the case. In her high school career, Woliczko averaged 21.3 points per game and 9.4 rebounds while consistently facing some of the toughest competition in the Bay Area, and even the nation. She returned from a devastating ACL injury suffered early in her junior season to average 20.2 points and 11 rebounds per game this season, while earning her third West Catholic Athletic League Player of the Year honor.

And even in the minutes following the disappointing end to her great career, Woliczko was still focused on Mitty bringing home a CIF Open Division state title.

“Now it’s on to the next, and playing ... people like Maliya Hunter and Tee (McCarthy),” Woliczko said. “We hope to set them up for the future, and hopefully they’ll get it next year.”