Nor Cal champs!

Celebrating a championship by cutting down a net isn’t something that happens often in the high school arena. Half Moon Bay has now done it twice.

The first was in the 2020-21 Central Coast Section Division IV finals, a unique opportunity as it was the season back from the pandemic, and the championship game was held at Half Moon Bay instead of a traditional neutral site. That was also the year before this season’s seniors Delaney Dorwin and Paige Haberman arrived on campus.

Dorwin, Haberman and the rest of the Cougars got their turn to cut down the net Tuesday night, as No. 2-seed Half Moon Bay (23-7) rallied for a 49-47 victory in a thriller against No. 9 Lowell-SF in the CIF Northern California Division IV girls’ basketball regional finals. It marks the program’s first Nor Cal championship.

“I thought about it, I’ve dreamed about it,” Dorwin said.

Dorwin has been shooting for a Nor Cal crown ever since she was a kid, when she attended the 2016-17 CCS Division IV championship game, when HMB earned its first-ever section crown. The grade-school aged Dorwin even snuck into the team photo during the CCS trophy presentation at Santa Clara High School.

“I was with them when they won their first CCS championship when I was 7 or 8,” Dorwin said. “And I wrote all my basketball goals down, and Nor Cal and state was one of them.”

Fittingly enough, it was Dorwin who shot the Cougars into history Tuesday, as she gave up a dribble amid a 47-47 tie to drill a short pull-up in a tight 1-on-1 with 19 seconds to play. It was one of those shots where time slowed down, and the fan noise of the jam-packed Half Moon Bay gymnasium seemed to vanish. All there was was Dorwin, the ball, and the fated jumper that crushed the net to give HMB the lead.

“I feel like I’m an experienced player,” Dorwin said. “Coming out, I’m leading this team and I knew: ‘This is my shot.’ I knew: ‘I’m ready, I’m experienced and I can do this.’”

It seemed for much of the second half that Dorwin wouldn’t get the opportunity, however. After starting the half with two fouls, Dorwin picked up two fouls within 15 seconds of one another midway through the third quarter. The Cougars led by as much as 30-20 in the period, but Dorwin was forced to sit — probably for more time than she ever has this season — and by the time she reentered to start the fourth quarter, the game was deadlocked 32-all.

“Scary for a while,” Half Moon Bay junior Zoey Lemoge said, “but we pride ourselves on being a team, and everyone contributed. So, we all played our part, I think.”

Dorwin finished the night with 13 points and nine rebounds, and was one of three Cougars to score in double digits. Lemoge, the 6-foot intimidator at center, finished with a double-double of 14 points and 11 rebounds. Junior guard Xochitl Nieves knocked down three 3-pointers and added 11 points. Freshman Makena Glenn added two 3s and eight points.

It was the point guard play of Nieves while Dorwin was off the floor, and the rangy defense of Lemoge and the 5-6 power forward Haberman throughout the second half that kept HMB in it. It was all the Cougars could do to try and contain Lowell senior Patriceia Walsh, who finished with a double-double of 25 points and 12 rebounds, both game-highs.

“We knew coming in she was going to be an incredible player,” Dorwin said. “And she was. Part of our game plan, we knew she was going to come out and get hers. So, the goal was just to minimize what she did, stop the other players. And we knew if we minimized her that we had a lot better of a shot.”

The lead changed hands four times in the fourth quarter, with a flurry of scoring as Dorwin — who guarded Walsh for most of the game — was forced to play off the playmaking point guard to avoid picking up her fifth foul.

Nieves connected for a clutch 3 midway through the fourth to give HMB a 39-38 advantage, but after misses at both ends, Lowell took the lead back when Walsh scored on a hard drive to the hoop while drawing a foul from Lemoge to earn an and-1, giving the Cardinals a 40-39 lead.

Walsh missed the free throw, and HMB answered with Dorwin driving to the paint, only to reverse roles with Haberman to kick it out to the power forward for a long jumper to swing the Cougars ahead 41-40. They’d never trail again, but Lowell overcame a 47-42 deficit with 1:33 to play with a mini 5-0 run, tying it with 36 seconds left on a driving layup by junior Hannah Tandoc, who weaved through two defenders to finish.

Then came Dorwin’s immortal, a short jumper after missing several layup attempts earlier in the quarter.

HMB still had to survive one last Lowell possession, however, and the rangy defense of Haberman and Lemoge showed up in spades.

The Cardinals tried to drive the wing on the right side, but Haberman’s tough 1-on-1 defense forced a swing pass left for senior Katie Sen from long range. Haberman sped all the way across the court to contest the 3-point attempt, which missed, but saw Tandoc rush in for the offensive board. Tandoc attempted a short jumper from the heart of the key with Lemoge bearing down on her. The ball spun around but out of the cylinder, and even though Lowell senior forward Diamond Altamirano was in position for an offensive rebound, Lemoge spun around and knocked it away, with Dorwin securing the ball as time expired.

It was a torture possession for everyone in orange and black, especially first-year head coach Megan Smith.

“‘Secure the freakin’ rebound,’” Smith said of what she was thinking during the final seconds. “I’m like: ‘Get it! Get it and it’s ours!’ That moment of waiting, when it’s around the rim, that’s probably the most stressful thing ever.”

Half Moon Bay now gets to play one more day — in the CIF Division IV state championship game Saturday at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento. The Cougars will face the Southern California champion Whitney Wildcats. Tip-off is scheduled for 10 a.m.