Sharks strike at buzzer; M-A holds off South City

With the lead changing hands 14 times in the game, Hillsdale had a chance to go ahead with 24 seconds remaining when Caelynn Hwang went to the free-throw line with the Knights trailing by 1. Hwang nailed the first free throw, but missed the second, giving the Sharks a chance to run out the clock with no worse than overtime if they could not convert.

Oceana set a play to its most prolific shooter, Sala Langi, who totaled a game-high 18 points. But as Eskridge took the ball up top, Langi was double-teamed. So Eskridge pump-faked to draw her defender, then drove the lane before releasing a running jumper that glided off the glass and in just before the buzzer sounded.

“When I saw her throw it up off the backboard, I knew it was going to go in,” Langi said. “That’s her favorite shot. She does that all the time.”

The Sharks aren’t the biggest team in the PAL, but they play a tough brand of street ball that forces opponents out of their comfort zones. That was certainly the case with a Hillsdale team that is probably the most undersized contender in the PAL tournament.

“That’s the way we play,” Oceana head coach David Clark said. “We know they like to shoot … a lot of 3s and have players who can make them. So we knew we wanted to press them.”

The Knights came out dialed, opening the game with a 10-3 lead in the first quarter and maintained their advantage through the opening eight minutes. Oceana, on the other hand, came out stone cold, not making its first field goal until five minutes into the game when sophomore guard Ariana Margate scored a transition layup.

But it was the spark the Sharks needed, as they began chipping away from there before taking their first lead three minutes into the second quarter. More importantly, the Sharks quickly set the tone with their brawling, run-and-gun style.

“The fact that we can get teams to play the way we want them to play is good for us,” Eskridge said.

The tempo finally caught up with Hillsdale in the fourth quarter. The Knights only converted one field goal over the final eight minutes, albeit at a critical time when Oceana had its biggest lead of the half at 44-40; but Hwang nailed a 3-pointer to close to within 1.

The Knights were also off-kilter from the stripe, making just 5 of 9 free throws in the fourth quarter.

“We just can’t close out close games,” Hillsdale head coach Mike Ciardella said. “If you miss four free throws in the fourth quarter, you can’t close out games.”

But the Sharks had trouble finishing shots too, sometimes seeming more concerned with pulling off highlight-reel plays than with simply putting the ball in the hoop. Time and again, Oceana relied on second and third chances made possible by its post game. The Sharks outrebounded the Knights 39-32 overall, including 10 offensive boards.

“It’s not a good matchup for us because they’re bigger and stronger,” Ciardella said. “But our little squirts hung in there.”

When Oceana is going good, it is the ball-handling and passing that sets the PAL North Division co-champions apart. And the Sharks showcased that element in crunch time. Trailing by 1 with 30 seconds remaining in regulation, Langi kicked an assist to Eskridge to give Oceana a 47-46 lead.

Hillsdale was paced by junior Raichel Tjan’s 12 points. Hwang and Lauren Izumi had 10 points apiece. Oceana junior Kyana Wiley had 10 points and eight rebounds, and Langi totaled nine rebounds.

With the win, Oceana advances to Saturday’s PAL tournament championship game to face Menlo-Atherton in a showdown of the No. 1 ranked teams from each the North and South divisions.

“This is what we hoped for,” Clark said. “Finishing first in the North, we felt like we needed to live up to that by getting to the championship game.”

M-A 61, South City 43

The Bears actually had to work for a 61-43 win in Friday’s PAL girls’ basketball tournament semifinals.

The Bears let a 39-20 halftime lead dwindle to 6 points with 2:40 remaining in the third quarter. But M-A closed out the game on a 19-7 run to advance to Saturday’s championship game, where the No. 1 ranked team from the PAL South Division will have a chance to repeat as tournament champions.

Three M-A players scored in double-digits with forward Megan Sparrow totaling a team-high 15 points. Greer Hoyem added 14 points and point guard Ilana Baer had 13. Brittney Cedeno fueled the South City comeback in the third quarter with a game-high 20 points and also led all rebounders with eight boards.