The Monache girls basketball team continues to make their mark in school history. On Saturday night they became the first team in school history to reach the Southern Section state championship game, defeating Portola High School of Irvine 55-43, putting them one win away from playing for a state championship in Sacramento.
“It feels like an amazing achievement. All the credit to the girls for their hard work and commitment to getting better each and every season to lead to this moment,” said Marauder coach Johnny Bartlett.
A big part of how Monache wins games is their stifling defense The Marauders use their length and quickness to force teams to shoot three point shots from well beyond the three point arc. That again was the case on Saturday as Portola had to shoot several shots from beyond 25 feet as the shot clock wound down. “We’ve been able to use the length we have to our advantage and clog up passing/driving lanes. It’s a testament to our girls for buying into what we’re asking and giving all our effort on that end of the court for 32 minutes,” Bartlett added about his team's defense.
The game got off to a slow start for both teams, with the first bucket not being scored until the 4:10 mark when Shelly Andrade scored on a transition layup. Monache went up 5-0 when Milly Rojas connected from deep. Portola didn’t score there first point until their was 0:47 remaining in the quarter when Yuri Ha buried a triple from the corner. The Bulldogs tied it at 5 when Amelia Booth knocked down a pair of free throws with 0:11 remaining in the first quarter. Monache’s Danika Sanchez beat the buzzer with a transition bucket to give the Marauders a 7-5 lead after one quarter.
Portola took their one and only lead right off the bat to start the second quarter as Madison Nguyen buried a three. Rojas answered with a trifecta of her own to give Monache a 10-8 lead. London Haynes knock one down from deep to extend the Marauder advantage to 13-8. The Bulldogs countered with a 7-2 run to tie things at 15. Monache however countered that with a 6-0 run, getting layups from Sanchez, Rojas and Andrade to secure a 21-15 lead. Bianca Morrell scored the final bucket of the half for the Bulldogs to cut the deficit to 21-17.
Nguyen knocked down a quick trifecta to pull the Bulldogs to within a point to start the third quarter. Haynes scored to push the lead back to 23-20. Jillian Yomemitsu tied things at 23 with a 3 point bucket at the 4:30 mark. From that point Monache went on a 13-0 run to end the quarter. Rojas and Andrade both knocked down a pair from the charity stripe. That was followed by an Andrade transition layup, a nice driving layup by Kyah Bartlett and then 5 straight points from Haynes to give the Marauders a 36-23 lead.
Monache extended the run to 18-0 when Bartlett buried a triple and Rojas scored from mid range, giving Monache a 41-23 lead. Portola knocked down back to back threes to cut the deficit to 10, but Monache was able to get easy buckets off of its pressure to hold on to the lead and the victory.
Rojas and Andrade both led Monache in scoring with 16 points apiece. Both also gave their thoughts on being the First Marauder team to ever play for a Southern Section title. “To be the first team in school history to make it this far means a lot, not only to me but to my teammates as well. We all know the potential we’ve had these past few years so getting to see it all pay off and being able to work together every day to make history is huge for us. We have also had a ton of support as well from our school and community coming out and watching us so it’s really cool to see everyone show up for us,” said Andrade.
Rojas added “Being a part of this team, making it this far is a great experience. Not only do we learn from the game but throughout the way we learn life lessons that will stick with us forever. It’s great to be a part of a team that is making history just by playing a sport we love.”
With Monache being one win away from playing for a state title, both gave there thoughts on what it wold be like to play for a state title inside an NBA arena. Andrade said “One game away from playing in an NBA arena is a huge opportunity and dream to even think about. It’s exciting to see how far our season is going and to see how much our team is able to accomplish, however we still have to get past the next round. I would say our main focus now is to prepare ourselves for our next opponent and keep working as a team.”
Rojas also gave her thoughts on being one game away. “Growing up it's always been a dream to go inside and watch an NBA game, but to think about us having the chance to play a game in an arena like that feels surreal. I think the motive and the drive we have coming to compete in a state championship game comes from last season when we lost in the first round of the D1 state playoffs. But in order to get there we have to focus on our next test that only we have the answers to.”
Monache’s next opponent will be Rancho Bernado who will be coming North from the San Diego area. While thinking of playing a state championship game at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento seems fun, Bartlett knows he can’t let his team think past Tuesday night’s game. “It’s cool to think about but we’re not getting ahead of ourselves. We have a tough opponent coming on Tuesday night that wants to play in that arena just as much as we do. We have to be ready to go and be willing to execute for 4 quarters. We will need the gym packed to help give us a boost so come out and support your Lady Marauders on Tuesday Night.”
Haynes added 10 points, 8 rebounds and 4 steals from Monache. Bartlett scored 7 while dishing 5 assists and Sanchez added 6 off the bench.
Rancho Bernado knocked off Arroyo Grande 55-47 on Saturday and comes into the game with an overall record of 25-7. Game time will be 6 p.m.
Tickets for the regional finals are $12 for general admission and $8 for children 5 and older, high school students with an ASB card and for those 65 and older. Tickets are only available at gofan.com