Sequoia girls’ basketball grabs second CCS title in three years

Sequoia, with three key senior starters — Alexis Jackson, Caitlin Dulsky and Jacqueline Kurland — concluding four years as key varsity performers, had annexed the 2019 CCS Division I title as well. The two section hoops crowns are the only ones in school history for boys or girls.

Both were accomplished utilizing an approach that has produced solid results for Picchi, often with limited talent, for 40 years, beginning at Burlingame High School in 1981.

The Ravens, with their experienced and savvy core leading the way, executed the CCS final game plan to a T, a victorious T at that. But it wasn’t a walk in the park by any means.

Dulsky hit what turned out to be the winning basket with just under a minute to play after the top-seeded Eagles had nearly clawed all the way back from a 10-point halftime deficit.

The prime culprit in that rally was outstanding Los Altos point guard Jamie Baum. With 26 seconds left in the game, she scored to make it, 34-32. Then, 24 seconds later, Kurland salted away the win with two high pressure free throws.

The Eagles turned the ball over on their final possession and the Sequoia celebration began.

Dulsky, a sturdy, physical 5-8 forward, led the Sequoia offense with 14 points; she added seven rebounds. After the game, she reflected on an unprecedented, pandemic-delayed season that saw the Ravens play just nine games — two were called off due to a virus scare — winning eight of them, including a 35-33 squeaker in May over Half Moon Bay, this year’s CCS Division IV champion.

“This is amazing,” Dulsky said after she whooped it up with her teammates. “This is the best it can get. But it’s been a strange year.”

Like other Sequoia seniors, she graduated on June 4. With a one-time exception made by state officials due to the virus outbreak, she was able to play three sports at Sequoia this spring: Water polo, lacrosse and basketball.

The Redwood City team got contributions from a variety of players against Los Altos. Jackson, though in early foul trouble, managed five of Sequoia’s 12 steals. Aniyah Hall, a rangy 6-3 sophomore center, chipped in with six points and six rebounds and she clogged the middle in the Ravens’ zone.

In spite of an intense focus on defending the quick, aggressive Baum, she managed to lead all scorers with 17 points, right at her average for the season.

Dulsky gave high praise to Sequoia’s trademark deliberate, half-court style of play, an offensive and defensive option that few teams favor today.

“It’s different,” she said. “It’s slow and it flusters the other teams.”

For Picchi, who has produced just over 350 wins at the high school and college level, the triumph was somewhat bittersweet. Having moved to Turlock recently, he said this year’s season was almost certainly his last coaching stint on the Peninsula.

The commute from the Central Valley is simply too long. He bunked at the Good Nite Inn in Redwood City during the playoffs.

“It’s been a great run,” he said. “This team has been one of my all-time favorites.”

That’s saying something since he and his assistant coach, Mike Ciardella, have a total of five California Interscholastic Federation state titles between them: one at Burlingame for Picchi, four at Sacred Heart Prep for Ciardella.

In a bizarre school year like no other, the ending for Sequoia could not have been more satisfying.

After all of the confusing, contradictory virus-related rulings by state and local health authorities throughout the year, it concluded on a decidedly high note for the Ravens and their fans.

With a team grade point average of 3.8, an A-minus, Sequoia got an A in its final exam.