It is said baseball is a game of inches. Mira Costa discovered Saturday the old adage can also be applied to basketball.
Trailing by two points with time running out, Mustang guard Halle Maeda launched a possible game-winning 3-point shot only to have it fall short, bouncing off the front of the rim as the final buzzer sounded.
But, as Crescenta Valley players and fans began to celebrate, a cheer erupted from the Mira Costa bench. A referee has ruled Maeda had been fouled sending her to the charity stripe for three free throw attempts.
The first shot dropped through the hoop making it a one-point game and the Mustang’s chances for a comeback to at least send the game into overtime appeared to be good.
The ball did not bounce Mira Costa’s way, however, as the final two shots went awry and Crescenta Valley held on for a 37-36 victory giving the Falcons the CIF Southern Section Division 1A championship in front of a stunned crowd at Azusa Pacific University.
The loss marked the third consecutive year Mira Costa – and juniors Allie Navarette and Maeda – has lost in a division championship game. While the Mustangs were seeking their first CIF title since 1974 (they were also runner-up in 2007 and 2008), Crescenta Valley celebrated its first CIF title in boys or girls basketball.
“They did a phenomenal job on the offensive boards,” Mira Costa coach John Lapham said of Crescenta Valley’s performance. “We fought back in the fourth quarter and thought we might have the game, but the ball bounced the wrong way on the last two or three possessions, and it wasn’t to be. I’m really proud of our kids for fighting back, for having a phenomenal attitude when the chips were down.”
After leading 9-4 after the first quarter, Navarette got into early foul trouble spending much of the second quarter on the bench. Battling Crescenta Valley’s 6-foot-3 center Alisa Shinn, the absence of Mira Costa’s 6-foot forward and leading scorer enabled the Falcons to outscore the Mustangs 17-5 for a 21-14 lead at halftime.
“They clearly had a size advantage inside,” Lapham said. “Our game plan was to do a better job of boxing out and we just didn’t get position. They had 10 offensive rebounds in the first half giving them second shot after second shot. In general, hats off to Crescenta Valley for rebounding with tremendous desire.”
Crescenta Valley increased its lead by one point in the third quarter before Mira Costa rallied, outscoring the Falcons 12-5 in the fourth quarter to put the team in position for the win.
Shinn had a game-high 14 points and 18 rebounds for Crescenta Valley while Navarette finished with 13 points and five rebounds. Maeda added 11 points, seven rebounds and four assists for Mira Costa while Laura Sheckter recorded five points and nine rebounds and Haley Herdman scored six points including a 3-pointer to open the game.
“Obviously they did a much better job of rebounding, but I think we did a much better job in the second half, and it just came down to a couple of plays,” Sheckter said.
Crescenta Valley’s stifling defense held Mira Costa to 22.8% shooting from the field.
Mira Costa (22-9) will continue its season in the 16-team CIF State Southern Region Division 2 playoffs beginning Wednesday at 7 p.m.. The Mustangs are seeded No. 10 and will play at No. 7 Westview (25-6), the San Diego Section Open Division champion.
In the CIF-SS Division 1AA championship game, West Torrance was no match for top-seeded Ventura as the Cougars knocked off the Warriors 47-25.
West (25-7), who eliminated Bay League champion Redondo in the semifinals, is seeded No. 6 in Division 2 and will host No. 11 Independence of Bakersfield (22-6) in the first round of the State playoffs..
Local boys advance
Redondo (24-6) earned the second seed in the 16-team State Southern Region Division 1 playoffs and will host No. 15 Clovis North (20-9) on Wednesday while Bay League runner-up Inglewood (21-8) is seeded No. 8 and will host No. 9 Torrey Pines (25-15).
in the Open Division, Bishop Montgomery (26-2) earned the No. 3 seed and will host No. 6 Westchester (26-6 ) in the eight-team Southern Regional playoffs.
Brackets, seedings and scores are available at cifstate.org.
