M-A, Castilleja hope to beat the CCS hoop odds

by Keith Peters

Palo Alto Online Sports

The season should come to an end for the Menlo-Atherton and Castilleja girls’ basketball teams on Wednesday night as both are considered underdogs in their respective Central Coast Section playoff games.

Menlo-Atherton is seeded only No. 10 in Division I and will bring a losing record (14-15) into their semifinal showdown with No. 3 Evergreen Valley (18-7) at Mission College in Santa Clara at 7:30 p.m.

Castilleja, meanwhile, brings a lofty No. 3 seed in Division V and 19-8 record into its semifinal on Wednesday, which is against No. 2 seed Eastside Prep (23-4). That game will be played at St. Francis-Central Coast Catholic in Watsonville at 5:30 p.m. The Gators already have lost to the Panthers three times this season.

Clearly, Menlo-Atherton coach Pam Wimberly and Castilleja coach Jez McIntosh need to find some magic to keep their respective seasons from ending.

Menlo-Atherton is in the best situation, perhaps. The Bears haven’t played Evergreen Valley and will carry the underdog role into the game. M-A also will be bringing plenty of momentum of three straight postseason victories.

“This is another season, the fourth season,” said Wimberly, noting the preseason, league season and PAL playoffs as the others.

The Bears didn’t have a lot of success in the first three. They went 5-9 in the preseason, 5-5 in the PAL Bay Division season and 1-1 in the PAL playoffs. Heading into the CCS playoffs, Wimberly told her players: “You’ve got a second chance.”

One big reason why the Bears have this chance is 5-foot-11 senior Victoria Fakalata. She missed the first 15 games of the season due to academic problems. During that time, the Bears went 5-10. Since Fakalata’s return, the team has gone 9-5.

“She played in every game since she’s gotten back,” Wimberly said of Fakalata, who couldn’t practice with the team while she was ineligible and thus had to work herself back into shape during the games.

“It took her 2-3 weeks to kind of get herself back into basketball shape,” Wimberly said. In the three CCS games thus far, Fakalata has scored 51 points and made herself a threat inside — thus opening the perimeter for the Bears’ three-point shooters like Jessica Tuliau and Sela Tupou.

Fakalata, meanwhile, is grateful for her teammates to welcome her back after missing those 15 games. That attitude had made the team closer and made the Bears’ postseason goal all the more real. She had 20 points in a 50-46 upset of No. 2 seed Gilroy on Saturday, helping hold Gilroy’s 6-foot-3 center to just six points.

“Their goal,” Wimberly said, “is to make it to the championship game on Saturday.”

Castilleja has a similar goal, especially after reaching its first CCS Division V championship game just last season. Getting there this week, however, will be more difficult. Eastside Prep is healthier than a season ago and has the players who can turn games around quickly.

Castilleja discovered that during its three losses to the Panthers — 41-38, 53-43 and 43-37. The Gators held leads in two of those games, including a nine-point, fourth-quarter advantage in the first game.

“We’re going to give it a try,” said McIntosh. “We’ve had our chances. We just have to put together four good quarters . . . We’ve got to be more aggressive.”

Castilleja returned veterans Eve Zelinger and Natasha von Kaeppler from last season’s team, but has three starters this year who are playing in their first CCS games. So, there’s an unknown factor at this point in the season.

McIntosh, however, likes playing at St. Francis-CCC.

“We have good memories on that floor,” he said. “We won that game in the semifinals (last year) and earned our first trip to the CCS finals. So, we don’t the drive to Watsonville.”

For Castilleja to be successful on Wednesday, it will have to slow down Eastside Prep junior Ahjalee Harvey. Harvey scored 77 points in the three previous wins over the Gators, including a season-high 30 in the second meeting. Castilleja also has to shoot better from the floor after having percentages of 29.4, 35.3 and 32.7 in the three meetings.

At stake in the semifinal will be a berth into Saturday’s section championship game at Santa Clara University at 10 a.m. Awaiting the Castilleja-Eastside Prep winner most likely will be No. 1 seed Pinewood, the defending CCS and NorCal champion.

Pinewood (21-6) will face host St. Francis-CCC (17-8) in the late semifinal on Wednesday night and is favored to reach the section finals once again. The Panthers have the one-two scoring punch of juniors Hailie Eackles and Miranda Seto, the floor leadership of junior Kelsey Morehead and the improved play at the post from junior Jenna McLoughlin, who missed much of the regular season while rehabbing an ACL injury.

Pinewood is looking for a 12th section championship this weekend.

(Directions to Mission College: Drive south on 101 and turn left on Great America Parkway. Take the next left turn onto Mission College Blvd. Once on Mission College Boulevard, stay in the right two lanes and turn right at the next light. Follow the road around the campus and turn left into Parking lot D (3rd entrance). The gym is near the baseball/softball fields 2 side of the campus. As you turn into the parking lot you’ll see the gym up near the tennis courts. There is a $2 parking fee.)