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Pinewood’s Elle Ladine. Photo taken Feb. 21, 2022 by Karen Ambrose Hickey.

The Pinewood girls basketball team played in its eighth consecutive Central Coast Section Open Division final Friday, losing to Mitty 66-54 at the Kaiser Center in Santa Cruz.

Mitty, which won its sixth Open title in the past seven years and seventh overall, has played Pinewood in nine of the 10 Open tournaments and owns an 8-1 lead in the series.

Pinewood came back to win the NorCal Regional Open title twice (2018, 2019), once beating Mitty.

Mitty has 30 CCS titles and Pinewood owns 13, clearly marking the area rivals as the section’s elite.

In the latest rendition, Pinewood built a 42-30 lead in the third quarter by outscoring the Monarchs 13-4 to open the second half.

Mitty responded by scoring the final 13 points of the period, with Siena Guttaduro putting on the finishing touches with a 3-pointer for a 43-42 lead.

Pinewood regained the lead at 45-43 early in the fourth but it was all Mitty the rest of the way.

There were 10 lead changes and two ties before the Monarchs lit up the scoreboard.

Mitty’s Makaya Moore scored a game-high 25 points, 20 in the second half. Guttaduro finished with 13.

Pinewood’s Elle Ladine scored 23 to lead Pinewood. Skylar Chui added 10.

Ladine and Moore will be playing in the same town next season. Ladine is headed for Washington while Moore will play at Seattle.

By Rick Eymer

By Rick Eymer

By Rick Eymer

By Rick Eymer

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