A Sacred Heart-breaking loss for Gators in CCS final

Sacred Heart Prep’s Denise Stine nearly had her prayer answered at Santa Clara High.

Down by two points with time running out in Saturday’s Central Coast Section Division IV girls basketball championship with Seaside, Stine cast off from 35 feet for a potential, buzzer-beating victory. The ball, however, caromed off the rim and the Spartans prevailed 49-47.

“I thought it was going in, a little bit,” Stine said. “I didn’t have time to look at the basket. I was just trying to get the shot off.”

It was Seaside’s first CCS title, while the defending champion Gators (17-11) were seeking their 14th section crown.

SHP finds out its NorCal opponent when the pairings are announced Sunday. SHP coach Mel Murphy, in her fifth season, gave credit where credit was due.

“Seaside is a tough team,” said Murphy, who played basketball at Stanford. “There is a lot of talent out there. When it came to us, we got away from our game plan, offensively and defensively. It was hard to get it back.”

The Spartans had a dazzling performance by Sacramento State-bound guard, Jordan Olivares, who had a game-high 22 points.

Olivares, relying on a strong left-handed drive, hit the game-winning basket, scoring on a spinning shot off the glass while being fouled. Olivares missed the free throw, but the Gators couldn’t control the rebound, the ball squirting out-of-bounds. Olivares was quickly fouled again, but made just one of two charity tosses.

“The whole game plan was to shut Olivares down,” Murphy said. “We didn’t do a good job.”

“Jordan (Olivares) is one of the special players you get, maybe, once in 20 years,” Seaside coach Mike Turner said. “Her knowledge of the game, her heart, her fire, her desire. She’s a tough kid. She played football when she was younger.”

SHP’s Chance Bucher gave the Gators a legitimate chance with 18 seconds to play when she hit two free throws for a one-point lead. Both free throws were identical, the ball bouncing high off the back rim and through the net.

“My hands were kind of sweaty,” said Bucher, a sophomore. “That’s why I bounced the shots.”

The Gators led 10-0 after a pair of free throws by Bucher. The Spartans didn’t notch their first point until a made free throw by Olivares with 2:03 left in the first period. A jumper by Megan Norris put the Gators up 13-1, a seemingly comfortable lead.

Seaside’s first field goal came with 30 seconds to go in the quarter when Khrys Lynch scored inside. Olivares had nine points in the second period, the Spartans closing to 19-14 at the half.

In contrast, SHP had seven players score at least five points with no one in double figures. Bucher and Charlotte Levison shared a team-high nine points, while Zoe Zaharias and Stine had seven points apiece. Both players hit the boards with the 5-foot-4 Stine garnering 11 boards and Zaharias snaring six rebounds. Levison had nine boards.

“We let some things slip on the defensive end,” Bucher said. “We were upset about that, but, overall, we tried to keep our positivity and keep going.”

“We fought hard,” Murphy said. “We competed from the tip until the very end. You have to be excited about that.”

Stine, who left everything on the court, was proud of her team at game’s end.

“We played with a lot of heart,” Stine said. “At the end, we came up with a loss, but battling is what you ask for. As long as you give it your all, it’s all that matters.”