The Falcons were coming off a tough loss to Notre Dame of Belmonte in the Central Coast Section championship game at Santa Clara University, where they lost in the final minute 33-29 in their lowest scoring game of the season.
Scotts Valley (23-6) turned it around and ran all over the Bruins of Bear Valley (25-6), winning with their highest scoring output of the season, 82-48 at Scotts Valley on March 8.
“We knew we were a better team than that game let on,” Head Coach Jim Hart said. “We came out hot today and played some really good, fundamental basketball.”
The Bruins rained three pointers all night long on the Falcons sinking an impressive 11 three pointers, but the taller Falcons won the game in the trenches, grabbing the majority of the rebounds on the night, and keeping the ball moving on offense.
The Falcons had four players in double digit scoring and did a great job moving the ball down court and out of the red hot Bruins grasp.
Freshman Tori McBride scored a season high 22 points to lead the Falcons and grabbed seven rebounds. McBride got the wind knocked out of her in the third quarter but came back a minute later to help finish the game.
“We really wanted to show that we could score,” McBride said. “After that last game we really wanted to show what we could do and gain some momentum in this tournament.”
Senior captain Liz Munger had 20 points and 10 rebounds and junior Natalia Ebrahemian scored 19 despite getting into foul trouble and sitting out most of the second half. Freshman Nadene Hart also scored ten points for the Falcons as they walked away with a huge first round win and plenty of momentum going into the quarterfinals of the Northern California tournament. .
Kelsey Uno led the Bruins with 17 points and hit four three pointers.
“That was a very well coached team,” Bruins coach Jeff Bickmore said of the Falcons. “I felt we played well from outside, but under the basket those girls used their height and really took it to us.”
The Falcons play next at Peidmont High (Oakland) on Thursday, March 10 after press-time.
This is the first appearance in the NorCal tournament for the Falcons basketball team in school history.
Falcons fall in CCS finals
Before their NorCal win the Falcons fell to Notre Dame Belmont 33-29 in the Central Coast Section Finals at Santa Clara University, March 4. The loss was Scotts Valley’s lowest scoring output of the season.
The Lady Falcons had come from behind after trailing all game. With one minute left in the fourth quarter, Scotts Valleys Liz Munger put in a layup that finally gave the No.1 seeded Falcons the lead 29-28 over the No.2 seed Notre Dame of Belmonte.
However, Notre Dame found an answer. The Tigers senior Katie Flaherty hit an open 3-pointer with 39 seconds left in regulation that proved to be the nail in the coffin.
“That was an amazing team,” Tigers Coach Josh Davenport said. “I told our girls that they are going to be the program to beat for the next few years. The freshmen on that team are incredible, they all played, and all played really well.”
Munger and freshman Nadene Hart led the team in scoring with eight points each. Hart led the team in rebounds pulling in 12 rebounds as well as two blocked shots. Junior Natalia Ebrahemian scored six, and freshman Tori McBride put in five sinking a critical three pointer in the third quarter.
“That was a really hard loss for us.” Munger said. “We just worked so hard for this all year. It just seemed like we couldn’t play our game.”
The game was a low scoring battle with turnovers being the theme throughout. After being called for travelling seven times in the first quarter alone, Scotts Valley never found their rhythm. The Tigers didn’t fare much better as Notre Dame made only 11 of their 47 shot attempts for the game and Scotts Valley made 12 of 45. The Falcons, who usually garner a potent offensive front, turned the ball over 35 times in the game and the offense never came together.
