Woodside girls’ basketball hustles past undermanned South City

Woodside sophomore Sophia Pestoni stepped to the free-throw line with all four of her teammates opting to hang back on the other side of the court. South City had three players line up to rebound Pestoni’s missed free-throw attempt, but the 5-5 sophomore beat the odds by following her shot and fighting through the trio of Warriors for the offensive board.

“I don’t really care about the score,” Pestoni said. “I just kind of go for is because I like playing. I want to get the most out of it, especially because I’m having fun.”

Pestoni had plenty of fun in Thursday’s blowout. She and senior Madi Escobar shared team-highs by each totaling 11 points and eight rebounds. And Pestoni played to the final buzzer, hitting the last shot of the game with a midrange jumper as time expired. The points may not have mattered on the scoreboard, but for the first-year varsity sophomore, she was thrilled at the chance to convert her first varsity buzzer-beater.

“It was really exciting,” Pestoni said.

For South City, it was an exhausting outing. First-year head coach Jay Magat was dealt a tough hand this year with an abbreviated roster that has limited the Warriors to just five players in several games this season.

South City (6-4) officially has eight players on roster. Two are currently inactive, however — one due to injury, and another is a transfer student who must sit out until January — and to make matters worse, the Warriors’ best player, Bree Hodge, did not suit up Thursday.

The Warriors even had to play with just four players for the final minute of the first quarter when senior forward Jenn Davis was busted for wearing a nose ring under her facemask. Davis returned to start the second quarter and went on to record a double-double with 17 points and 13 points, both game-highs.

“Very tired,” Davis said after the game. “Because there’s no one to sub in and it’s really hard.”

Things started well enough for host South City when Ariyana Toney opened the game by banking in a 3. There were six lead changes in the opening quarter before Woodside center Sierra Pestoni scored a step-back jumper to give the Wildcats an 11-9 lead and spark an 8-2 run. Woodside would lead the rest of the way.

Woodside head coach Jason Llantero unleashed his team’s most effective weapon, two shifts of five-player rotations, which switched out early and often.

“It’s fun because we can just push ourselves for a minute and then come off,” Escobar said. “It’s good to just have everyone at their top energy the whole time, and just pushing it every second because you know you get a break after one minute.”

Both teams had trouble minding the ball. But Woodside’s total of 23 turnovers was dwarfed by a whopping 37 turnovers by South City.

South City enjoyed some mini-runs and made the most of the halftime break. Trailing 27-18 to start the third quarter, the Warriors opened on a 5-0 run with a corner 3 from Jesilyn Fullon and post-up jumper by Davis, to close it to 27-23. But the Wildcats responded with a 16-0 run, doubling up the Warriors 46-23 late in the third quarter on a 3-pointer from the top of the arc by Jessica Lin.

Llantero said he plans to continue utilizing the five-player shifts as the season progresses.

“There’s definitely a finishing team,” Llantero said. “But I think just to get us going, and just to keep everyone active, I would try to keep this.”

South City enjoyed success with its five-player roster earlier this season, riding the limited roster to a 41-31 win Nov. 30 over San Mateo.

“They stuck to the game plan,” Magat said. “That’s all I’m going to say. … But now they’ve seen a little bit of success, they’re starting to believe in it.”

And the core Warriors seem committed to keeping the team together.

“I think it’s our passion, to be honest,” Davis said. “We’re like a family together. … We just like the game, and we know each other, so it makes the game better.”