Big Pine Advances, Lone Pine falls, Bishop Union starts Wednesday
By Arnie Palu
February 22, 2016
Area Girls Basketball teams are well into their respective CIF playoff Brackets. Big Pine defeated Pilgrim in dramatic come-from-behind fashion Saturday night. Lone Pine lost a second round heart-breaker to Holy Martyrs Armenian School and Bishop Union’s girls hit the road beginning play in the Central Section Wednesday.
Big Pine Warriors
Big Pine outscored Pilgrim 17-7 in the 4th quarter in route to a 46-38 win Saturday night. Big Pine’s 2nd round win in the CIF southern section Division 6 championships sets up a Wednesday, February 24th game with #1 seed Price. Price has won their first two games 100-17 and 95-12.
Submitted by Coach Bob Church
…………………..Final……..1 2 3 4
Pilgrim……….38……….14 12 5 7
Big Pine……..46………..6 14 9 17
Saturday night in Big Pine, the Lady Warriors shook off another slow start after trailing by 10 points early in the 1st period. Again, missed free throws and layups hurt them, but they were able to get rid of the rust from not having played a game in the last twelve days.
Kaylee Simpson with a couple of mid-range jumpers and two free throws and AnahKee Mason’s play on the boards and scoring helped Big Pine stay close after one half of play, 26-20.
Big Pine cut the lead to two points at the end of the third period by playing good defense and by playing good transition defense, forcing Pilgrim to miss a couple of breakaway layups themselves.
In the fourth period, Big Pine would tie it up and then take the lead, as the Meza twins each scored 4 points. Cassie Meza hit a free throw to tie the score at 38, then Lauren Simpson, who had been playing point guard for three quarters was moved to wing, where she hit her second of her two 3-pointers, putting Big Pine in front for good, 41-38.
Big Pine Coach Bob Church- “I know it is starting to sound like I am repeating myself and I am- it was a team win, with all of the girls contributing. So much is put into scoring and rebounding, but often players can get overlooked because their stats aren’t as impressive as another persons. Six girls scored at least five points, but the hustle and defensive contributions of Gena Lewis and Aurora Toledo should not go unnoticed. I was extremely proud of all of our young lady’s efforts. Not all of the shots went in, nor did we make all the best passes we could have, but the effort was what got them thru this game. Our girls wanted it more, because they really are excited about the opportunity to play #1 ranked Price on Wednesday!”
BP Statistics
……………………………….Points Rebounds Steals Assists
AnahKee Mason 15 15 2 1
Kaylee Simpson 8 5 1 0
Lauren Simpson 7 6 2 2
Cassie Meza 6 7 3 1
Gabby Meza 5 4 2 1
Paaku’u Dewey 5 14 6 1
Gena Lewis 0 7 1 4
Aurora Toledo 0 2 0 0
Next action for Big Pine will be this Wednesday, in the CIF-SS Quarter-Finals, against #1 ranked Price. The game will be played in Los Angeles, as Big Pine lost the flip.
Lone Pine Golden Eagles
The Golden Eagles used their home court advantage grabbing a 11-9 1st quarter lead Saturday night. Holy Martyrs Armenian stormed back to win the CIF Southern Section Division 5A 2nd round game 53-31. Coach Clint Quilter praised his teams effort while looking forward to next year. “The girls put up a valiant effort and actually led at the end of the first quarter. The small number of players on our team just made it difficult to maintain that level of intensity and effort throughout the game. I’m really proud of their improvement throughout the year. I want to thank the seniors and wish them the best in their future and look forward to seeing the continued improvement of the underclassmen. ”
Lone Pine Statistics
Katelyn Button, 14 points, 4 rebounds.
Katie Lacey, 6 points, 6 rebounds.
Lena Cariou, 5 points, 10 rebounds.
Shelby Chavez, 4 points.
Niki Martinez, 2 points, 6 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal.
Celia Ray, 4 rebounds. 1 assist.
Ronni Siddall, 1 rebound, 1 steal.
Bishop Union Broncos
The Bronco girls are the #10 seed in the CIF Central Section Division 4 Basketball Championships. Bishop Union will travel to #7 McFarland Wednesday. A win for the Broncos would advance them to Friday’s Quarterfinal vs the winner of #2 Orosi and #15 Lindsay. The Bronco girls are 15-2 on the season including a 8-0 mark in the High Desert League. The Broncos are under the directions of 1st year head coach Tara Auld and assistant Alice Bruck.
Cover Photo by Steve Dutcher