by Alex Valdes
It doesn't matter if Sacred Heart Prep's girls basketball team makes less than 50 percent of its free throws, if the three-point shot is not falling, if the team suffers through game-long offensive inconsistency. There's the defense, the one constant that never seems to falter for the Gators, the one factor that makes them the favorite going into Saturday's state Division I championship game with Mater Dei of Santa Ana.
Sacred Heart used its harassing, indomitable defense to stuff Nevada Union of Grass Valley, 53-35, in last Saturday's Northern California Division I championship game at the Oakland Coliseum Arena. The Miners (29-7) made it interesting by creeping to within 42-35 with 6:27 remaining in the game, but Sacred Heart didn't allow a point the rest of the way.
Thus, Sacred Heart (37-1) will attempt to capture its third state title in as many years at 6 p.m. Saturday at Oakland. The Gators captured the Division I crown last season and the Division V title the year before that.
Mater Dei, the No. 2-ranked girls team in the state, earned a 50-47 win over Clovis West in the Southern California championship.
Sacred Heart, the No. 1-ranked girls team in the state by Cal-Hi Sports, has won 112 of its past 113 games and 32 in a row, and has accomplished such lofty feats with a simple formula: let Renee Robinson work her magic in the lane, let Jenny Circle dominate the boards and then hunker down with a tight, half-court, man-to-man defense.
The Gators employed that formula to perfection last week, allowing NorCal victims Nevada Union (35), Berkeley (28) and Fairfield (40) to score a combined 103 points.
Sacred Heart needed its defense to step up against Nevada Union, in part because the Gators were inaccurate from the free-throw line, making only nine of 21 shots and four of 13 during one stretch.
Moreover, the Gators' three-point shooting corps of Dawn DeSautels, Kacey Scheppler and Trisha Felts combined for only four threes in 15 attempts, although DeSautels and Scheppler canned back-to-back treys late in the first half to vault the Gators to a 26-18 lead.
"I was never really comfortable until there were around four minutes to play," said Mike Ciardella, Sacred Heart's coach. "It was a much closer game than the score showed."
The Sacred Heart defense didn't allow Nevada Union to score for the remaining 6:42 of the first half, in addition to its fourth-quarter scoring embargo. Circle (four blocks) and Kennon utilized their height against Nevada's trio of Megan McCauley (6-2), Michelle McCauley (6-1) and Yvonne Daily (5-11), who combined for 12 points in the first half to help the Miners scramble to a 16-16 tie but scored only a combined seven points in the second half.
On the perimeter, Robinson had four steals, DeSautels had two and Felts also provided attacking defense. The Miners made only two outside shots and made 16 of 47 field-goal attempts for the game.
Then there was the pivotal fourth quarter. Nevada Union had clawed back from a 33-21 third-quarter deficit and had climbed to within 42-35 with 6:27 left and appeared to have the momentum.
In the final six minutes, however, Robinson and Felts came up with steals, Circle controlled the defensive boards and Nevada Union did not even come close to scoring, much less getting off a good shot.
Offensively, Sacred Heart made only 20 of 50 field goals, but Robinson collected 15 points and nine assists, Circle scored 12 points on 6-for-10 shooting and DeSautels had 10 points.
In its three NorCal victories, Sacred Heart allowed 30 points in the second and fourth quarters combined to its three opponents.
The Gator defense was also armor-plated in Friday's 57-28 win over Berkeley (27-3). Circle blocked seven shots, to go with 22 points, and Robinson had nine steals, 10 points and 13 assists. Sacred Heart pressured Berkeley into 22 percent field-goal shooting.
Kennon also contributed 10 points and Scheppler made two threes.
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