Girl’s basketball: Winning down to the wire
Going into halftime in the second round of CIF playoffs, the girl’s varsity basketball team was down by nine points. Avery Brunk, senior, remembers being in the locker room before the second half began. “We were all a little frustrated and just kind of upset that we were down by nine and that things weren’t going our way,” Brunk said. “To start the second half we just wanted to come out with a bunch of energy and pressure the ball and really execute on offense.”
The strategy paid off, and the team won. “That was a huge win for us and the energy was so big and everyone was so pumped after the game it was insane,” Brunk said.
A few weeks later, the team played in the championship against Canyon High School. They drew on the confidence that they had built up in games like the one against Foothill. “Before the game I was really excited. I was a little nervous, but mostly just excited. We knew that we had a chance to do something special,” Brunk said.
Girl’s basketball beat Canyon 47-33, winning the CIF championship and advancing to state. But it was no easy road to get there.
The game against Foothill was a close one, a game that the girl’s basketball team had to rally together in order to win. Corryn Douglas, senior, knows how important winning those close games are for the confidence level of the team. “It just (made) us more excited for the next game. Because we came back from Foothill … I think that just made us more excited and made us want to go farther,” Douglas said.
The drive that the team had through the playoffs and into the championship game was fueled by close wins, but they also had something to prove. “So many people had doubted us and doubted that we would even make playoffs in the first place and proving them wrong felt great,” Douglas said.
But before the team could prove the skeptics wrong in the championship, they had to beat Oak Hills in the semi-final round. In practice leading up to the game, the team prepared for another tight game. “We ran some new plays to be able to prepare for last-second shots just in case we needed it because we have had some really close games,” Douglas said.
The decision to run those plays came in handy on February 27, against Oak Hills in the semi-final game.
Just like Foothill, this game was close. With thirty seconds left, they were losing by one, 44-43. With the season on the line, Madison Hutchinson, senior, drove to the basket and scored the winning layup to go to the finals. “One of my teammates was trying to set a screen for me and I just saw that it was open, so I just did a lay-up. It was so scary,” Hutchinson said.
But even coming off such an emotional win, the team was already looking forward to their next challenge. They had played Canyon in a preseason game earlier this year, and lost. The team looked forward to seeing them again in the championship.
Their game plan for the championship was straightforward. They leaned on efficient offense and a strong defense to overcome Canyon. “Our defense is going to be key. Offense wins games, defense wins championships,” said Brunk, before the game.
Brunk’s words held true. The team commanded control of the ball for almost all of the game, winning with a comfortable lead. “The game went pretty smoothly. We played great defense,” Douglas said.
When the final buzzer sounded, girl’s basketball had won the CIF championship. “It felt unbelievable. It’s awesome. The amount of hugging and screaming we did after that was crazy,” said Brunk.
