Fantastic finish for Hillsdale girls’ basketball in 60-58 comeback against Capuchino

The Lady Knights (7-0 PAL South, 17-1 overall) showed just how fast things can change in Friday’s 60-58 victory over Capuchino at Zugelder Gymnasium. With less than a minute to play in the third quarter, Hillsdale found itself trailing by 13. But some magic by seniors Bailey Fong and Makena Nitao over the last eight minutes fueled a 13-0 run, and a statement comeback victory.

“It’s the biggest win of the year for us,” Ichiki said. “It might be the biggest win since I’ve been here. To beat these guys and be down going into the fourth quarter.”

Fong finished with 22 points, including the final 5 for the Knights. Her eight-foot baseline jumper with 35 seconds to go gave Hillsdale a 57-55 advantage. Then after Cap senior Mele Afeaki converted an and-1 at the other end to put the Mustangs up 58-57, the Knights got to the line with six seconds to play when Fong, on a dribble, drew a non-shooting foul to earn a 1 and 1.

Fong drilled both free throws to give Hillsdale the lead with a cool, ice-in-her-veins approach that is a commonplace occurrence witnessed by her teammates in practice.

“She did amazing,” Hillsdale senior Lizzie Manis said. “We work a lot on free throws in practice, and Bailey is always the one to make the most.”

Manis enjoyed a solid second half in the post. At 5-11, 140 pounds, the senior doesn’t look like she should stand a chance against Cap’s statuesque 6-2 power forward Afeaki. But with some solid footwork, a knack for boxing out, and a nose for the ball, Manis — who finished with seven points, seven rebounds and four assists — showed up in the clutch.

“She was huge,” Ichiki said. “She played really good defense in the second half, got some really big boards. It kept us in the game, really. If we don’t have that, we’re in trouble.”

Her biggest moment set up Fong’s go-ahead jumper in the final minute. Manis got position on Afeaki and came down with a crucial offensive rebound, and quickly dropped dime for Fong along the baseline.

“Usually, when I get a board down low, the first thing I look for is to go up,” Manis said. “But I saw directly in front of me … and when I turned up, Bailey was right there, and I just saw her and had eyes on her. And I know she’s very consistent with her shooting, so I knew that might be the play to get us the lead.”

After Hillsdale lost an 18-15 first-quarter lead, it took nearly the rest of the night to get it back.

Afeaki was a beast in the first half. She finished with a game-high 32 points, including 22 in the first half. While senior forward Hailey Hoff is the most revered 3-point shooter in the Peninsula Athletic League, Hillsdale’s insistence on double- and triple-teaming her left Afeaki open frequently.

And when the Knights let her bounce out to the perimeter uncontested, Afeaki showed off her range as well. She drilled four 3-pointers on the night.

“Honestly, (it’s) just confidence,” Afeaki said. “I think every team is used to me driving so much, they were expecting that. But, for me, I knew that coming in. So, I just had to have it in my head: You’ve got to shoot, you’ve got to shoot.”

Cap (3-2, 8-9) took a 33-29 lead into halftime and kept adding on. A 10-1 run near the end of the third quarter seemed to put the game out of reach. But Hillsdale got a wake-up 3-point from a top-of-the-perimeter look by Nitao (15 points) to close out the period, with the Knights trailing 52-42.

Then Cap seemed to tense up. Maybe it was the crowd, the most raucous the Mustangs have played in front of this season, according to head coach Steve Hoff, who noted the current PAL admittance guidelines limiting crowds with a six-guests-per-player rule.

“When it comes to six people for players, they must have had 50 players — there was a bunch of people,” Steve Hoff said. “But look, I like that … because I think these kids deserve to play in front of crowds like that. That was maybe the most raucous one, which was fun.”

But Cap missed five 3-pointers in the final five minutes and hurt itself with several grievous turnovers.

“I think we just made some critical mistakes late,” Steve Hoff said. “When they’re fouling when they’re in the bonus, when we’re up 1, that I thought was the killer.”

One of the biggest came with the score deadlocked at 55 with just over a minute to play, when Hailey Hoff came up with a steal under the Hillsdale basket but was immediately called for a double-dribble to give the Knights the ball back. That set up the fateful offensive rebound by Manis for Fong to give her team its first lead since early in the second quarter.

Following a turnover that saw Cap’s ensuing inbound pass sail long down the court to absolutely no one, Hailey Hoff made up for her miscue at the other end. The Mustangs took a timeout and went into the full-court press. Hailey Hoff quickly pounded on the first pass to the sideline, and hit the court in an effort to secure a loose ball, which Steve Hoff made certain Cap would keep by calling his last timeout.

Afeaki followed with a dribble-drive layup and drawing a foul, converting the and-1. But at the other end, after Fong gave the Knights a 59-58 lead with her free throws with six seconds to go, Cap failed to inbound the ball. Steve Hoff attempted to call a timeout, but had none remaining, and the five-second violation gave possession back to Hillsdale.

Fong drew another foul and finished with one more free throw.

“That showed a lot of character,” Ichiki said. “Our kids just came back and got it done.”

Hillsdale is now tied atop the PAL South Division standings with Burlingame. Both teams are undefeated, but Burlingame has played two less games.

Hillsdale travels to Capuchino for a rematch Monday at 6:15 p.m.