Publication Date: Friday, March 04, 2005
SHP-Pinewood girls continue their CCS battles
SHP-Pinewood girls continue their CCS battles
(March 04, 2005) Top two seeds meet for section honors and bragging rights on Saturday
by Keith Peters
The Sacred Heart Prep and Pinewood girls' basketball teams have been among the most successful in Central Coast Section history. The Gators have won 12 section crowns while the Panthers have captured seven.
Up until two years ago, the schools rarely competed in the same division - often winning CCS titles the same season, SHP in Division I or IV and Pinewood in Division II or V.
In 2003, the Gators and Panthers were thrown together in Division V and battles between the schools have raged ever since. Sacred Heart Prep has yet to win at Division V since Pinewood came into power with the first of seven straight CCS titles in 1998.
The Gators' quest for their first win over the Panthers in a CCS finale since 1997 continues Saturday when No. 2 SHP (19-12) takes on No. 1 Pinewood (21-5) at Santa Clara High in the CCS Division V championship game at 11 a.m.
Both teams are assured of berths in the Northern California Tournament, which begins Tuesday. The CCS winner will earn a home game while the loser hits the road. So, there's plenty at stake Saturday.
"I think it will be a great game," said SHP coach Wendy Quattlebaum. "I think we both have improved quite a bit since we last played in December (a 48-41 win by Pinewood). I am looking forward to a battle for the entire game.
"We are both very familiar with each other and know what the other can do," Quattlebaum continued. We'd like to take away as many three-point shot attempts as possible, and we did a decent job of that the last two times we played."
The Gators gave up just two three-pointers to the Panthers in the 2004 CCS championship game. SHP's offense, however, was nearly non-existent in a 31-21 loss.
"Offensively, we just didn't click," Quattlebaum said, "so I am hoping this year we can play the defense we know how to play and then the offense will just come."
Both teams had plenty of offense in their respective semifinal victories on Tuesday at Mercy-San Francisco. Sacred Heart held off No. 3 Eastside Prep (23-7), 64-52, and Pinewood romped past No. 4 Castilleja (16-10), 78-36.
Pinewood was rusty against Castilleja, having not played for two weeks. The Gators, however, received a major blow just seconds into the game when senior scoring and rebounding leader Nikki Perlman suffered a torn MCL. Castilleja was inbounding and setting up for a press break. Perlman got caught between two players and "she just went down," said Castilleja coach Jez McIntosh. "She was the heart of our team. We've been averaging 50 rebounds a game and we had 10 (against Pinewood)."
With Perlman gone, Pinewood was able to concentrate on stopping senior guard Mika Peterman.
"She's their go-to player," Scheppler said. "We double teamed her, made her work to get the ball. We made it an exhausting experience."
Peterman finished with a team-leading 12 points.
Pinewood's 6-foot-1 freshman center Aly Geppert led everyone with a season-high 24, making 12 of 16 field-goal attempts. She benefited from Castilleja's concentration on perimeter defense, hoping to take away the Panthers' three-point game. That left Geppert open, with single coverage and no Perlman to deal with.
Sophomore Sami Field-Polisso added 17 and senior Daniela Roark contributed 15.
"We did what we had to do," Scheppler said. "We did a nice job of sticking to our game plan. But we weren't polished. We had some positives and negatives. Hopefully we can iron out the negatives and be ready Saturday."
McIntosh was impressed with how physical Pinewood played.
"I've never seen them play that hard," he said. "When you add that dimension to the weapons they already have, they're going to be tough to beat."
Scheppler, however, knows Sacred Heart Prep has strengthened itself since earlier in the season. Rosemary Prince has returned from an injury and Kim Culpan has developed into a solid contributor off the bench to complement Jessica Pecota, Hannah Stephens and Emma Hoffacker. Those three combined for 42 points in the win over Eastside Prep, with Pecota getting 16 and Hoffacker 15.
"I think they are better now than earlier in the year," Scheppler said. "They have the advantage of a tough WCAL schedule; they've seen teams like us. Now they have some depth. They played great against Eastside Prep."
And Sacred Heart Prep will have to have a similar effort to dethrone Pinewood.
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