Menlo girls survive Hillsdale in Nor Cal girls’ basketball regional semifinal

“I was just like: ‘She’s not guarding me,’” Xin said, who was staring down Menlo’s 0-for-7 shooting slump in the fourth quarter. “I didn’t really think about make or miss. I was like: ‘I’ve been hot all game. I’m going to hole this, it’s going to go in.’ I didn’t think about missing. I just let it fly.”

Xin’s splash was just a primer for the exciting closing minutes, though, as Hillsdale fired right back. Senior guard Makena Nitao scored a game-high 23 points and converted her third 3-pointer of the night to make it 49-48.

Xin would miss a 3 at the other end to give Hillsdale a chance to take its first lead since the first quarter. Hillsdale got the ball into the hands of Nitao, who dribbled across the arc and into a double-team, but sidestepped it to create on off-balance open look. The shot was off the mark, however, with Menlo sophomore Ruiqi Liu grabbing the rebound.

“She’s our best scorer, her and Kira (Wilmurt),” Hillsdale head coach Dan Mori said. “And if she gets that shot and thinks she can make it, I’m happy with her taking it.”

Hillsdale (23-6) had no choice but to foul Liu, who is one of Menlo’s best free-throw shooters. The sophomore was 5 of 5 from the stripe in the game, and sank both halves of a 1-and-1 with less than 10 seconds to go to put Menlo back up by 3.

“Very, very confident,” Menlo head coach John Paye said of having Liu at the line. “We talked about whoever had the most free throws in the fourth quarter is going to win, and that’s what happened.”

Hillsdale had one more chance to tie it though and lined up Nitao for an on-ball screen along the perimeter. She got off a shot at the buzzer, though Menlo’s triangle and 2 defense forced the sharpshooter to take a tough, contested shot. It sailed long — Nitao said she knew it was missing the second it left her hand — and Menlo enjoyed its most spirited on-court celebration of the postseason.

“I thought we had it because we had the momentum, they hit a couple big shots down the stretch,” Mori said. “To [Liu’s] credit, she made her free throws.

Wilmurt was a big reason for Hillsdale’s second-half resurgence. The senior recorded a double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds, and hit four 3s in the game, three of them coming in the second half. She connected back-to-back from behind the arc to end the third quarter, closing the deficit to 46-35. Then she opened the fourth with another as Hillsdale started the quarter on a 10-0 run.

“She doesn’t miss when she gets on a roll,” Nitao said. “And it totally shifts the energy. It got us back into the game, but it also kind of brings everybody else up.”

But Hillsdale caught a tough break amid the run when an made 2 off an inbound play was whistled off due to a late Menlo substitution. Menlo had been cycling in three-player shifts all night — this compared to Hillsdale, which used just seven total players throughout — and the quick inbound pass to Wilmurt got caught in the crosshairs of one of Menlo’s many personnel changes.

“The inbound play that we didn’t get the basket killed us when we actually scored it, and the referee waived it off and made us redo the whole thing,” Mori said. “And we didn’t score. That would have changed the whole thing.”

Still, Hillsdale managed to wrestle the momentum back, thanks to a remarkable turnaround jumper by junior Miya Takeuchi. She totaled eight points in the game, with her final field goal on a baseline drive that saw her run into the 5-10 reach of Liu in the post. Takeuchi, didn’t force a layup though, instead stopping and pivoting for a clutch five-footer.

“That was a tremendously difficult shot,” Mori said. “Especially since she was going up a much bigger girl. But Miya, she plays with so much heart and soul — diving on the ground and just fighting for every loose ball ­— she’s one of our best offensive rebounders, just because she goes and finds a way to get the ball. Just the heart of a lion.”

Hillsdale shot 42.2% from the field, better than Menlo’s 37%. Hillsdale also won the boards, out-rebounding Menlo 34-23.

But Menlo’s early lead — spurred by 24 Hillsdale turnovers, 15 of them in the first half — proved too much to overcome. Just too much. But too much, nonetheless.

“Just from playing so many years, I knew at some point every team is going to fight,” Xin said. “So, we had to keep our foot on the gas. We had to play a full eight-minute quarter; we couldn’t give up. Ultimately, I think we did.”

The loss is the end of the road for Hillsdale, and the players were justifiably emotional after the game.

“Our team, we’ve been in so many situations like this,” said Nitao as she wiped away tears. “And everybody, I think what keeps us going is that we play for each other. And I think that’s what I appreciate the most for on this team is that everybody plays for each other. So, I think that’s what keeps us going.”

With the win, Menlo advances to the Nor Cal Division IV regional championship game. The Knights will travel to No. 1 San Domenico-San Anselmo Tuesday night for a 7 p.m. tip-off.

“It means so much,” Menlo junior Summer Young said. “We fought hard to get here.”