The Scotts Valley girls basketball team has secured its first Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League title, finishing the league season undefeated by winning 73-59 at Santa Cruz High School on Tuesday Feb. 8.
“This was a championship five years in the making.” Falcon head coach Jim Hart said. “After all so much time, this makes it all worthwhile.”
After last season’s 7-5 finish in league play, the Falcons knew they had to improve if they wanted to win their first championship. This season, with three talented freshmen and several strong upperclassmen, the team came out with guns blazing and ran roughshod over their league competition to finish 12-0 in SCCAL play. It is the first undefeated SCCAL girls basketball team since 2007-08, when Soquel swept the league.
Against Santa Cruz, Scotts Valley jumped out to an early 10-0 first-quarter lead, but the Cardinals didn’t go down quietly. In less than two minutes, they had brought the game back to within one point, and the first quarter ended 15-14. Santa Cruz standout Ashley Claussen nailed four field goals in a row and put on a fantastic show, finishing the game with 23 points.
Scotts Valley moved the ball around in the second half and saw all five of its starting players score in the double digits to slowly outpace Santa Cruz.
Junior Natalia Ebrahemian led the Falcons with 19 points and five rebounds, followed by Angela Silver with 13. Senior Liz Munger posted her 10th double-double of the season with 12 points and 10 rebounds. Freshman Tori McBride scored 11, and classmate Nadene Hart posted a double-double of her own with 10 points and 10 rebounds. Another freshman, Autumn Gaudice-Murphy, added six points, as well.
Foreshadowing possible future success, three of the team’s starters are freshmen. Silver, McBride and Hart all have three more seasons to play for the Falcons.
“All of our freshmen play like seasoned veterans,” Jim Hart said. “I knew that group of girls was good, but I didn’t know they would turn out to be that good.”
Ebrahemian will return for the next season, as well. The only starter the Falcons will lose will be tough to replace, as team captain and league-leading scorer Liz Munger (17.2 points per game) will graduate.
The Falcons will likely receive a No. 1 Central Coast Section playoff seed in Division IV. First, though, they will take their 14-game winning streak into the SCCAL tournament, which starts Tuesday, Feb.15, at a place and time to be announced.
