According to Victory Christian Academy girls basketball coach Robert Luna, the San Diego Section playoffs are “all about survival.”
“Our goal has been to win league and the Division II playoffs,” Luna said. “We wanted to win out in our last 10 games to win league. We won nine of the 10. You don’t know what you’re going to get when the playoffs start. But I feel close games build character.”
Victory Christian Academy had little trouble with its opening round opponent by bouncing 14th-seeded Classical Academy out of the playoffs with a commanding 53-9 victory on Feb. 13. The win advanced the Lady Knights to last Friday’s quarterfinal match-up against the sixth-seeded El Capitan Lady Vaqueros.
El Capitan proved to be a much stronger opponent and the outcome remained in doubt until the final horn.
After eliminating 11th-seeded Pacific Ridge, 62-35, in the opening round on Feb. 13, the Lakeside team traveled to Chula Vista to continue its playoff odyssey. The teams battled back-and-forth, with the host team holding a 39-35 lead through three quarters before the Lady Vaqueros took a one-point lead, 40-39, early in the fourth quarter on a three-point shot.
Victory Christian countered with a three-point basket of its own 21 seconds later to retake the lead at 42-40.
The Lady Knights, Metro-South Bay league co-champions, advanced their lead to 45-40 and 47-43 before black-clad El Capitan began to play the role of the grim reaper.
The game was tied, 47-47, with 1:12 to play in regulation before the hosts took a two-point lead with 35 seconds left.
But the game was nowhere near over.
A series of play-stoppages followed on fouls committed by the visitors. Because El Capitan was not over the limit, the stoppages did not result in foul shots but simply restarts by the Lady Knights.
The Lady Vaqs finally regained possession with less than one second remaining, but time ran out while trying to advance the ball for one final potential game-tying or game-winning shot.
Scoring was spread around for Victory Christian. Junior Sophia Abella and sophomore Mai’ana Norita each dropped in 12 points while sophomore Kami Demara had 11 points and senior Rylee Roy had 10 points.
Junior Lilly Williams keyed El Capitan with 17 points in the loss while sophomore Keira Heinricy dropped in 13 points.
Williams and Heinricy paced the Lady Vaqs with 16 points each in the win over Pacific Ridge.
The Lady Knights advanced to Wednesday’s semifinal game at second-seeded Bishop’s (22-7), with the winner advancing to Friday’s division final at San Marcos (5 p.m. start).
VCA continued to play the survival game with a 65-36 upset win.
“We’re a better team than last year,” Luna said. “We’re able to press opponents more and it’s harder to press us. We hold up more under pressure. I think next year we’ll turn the corner.”
Half of the basketball teams in Division I through Division IV were eliminated after the opening round. Those teams still alive in the semifinals proved they belonged at the top of their divisions.
More Metro
Teams advancing to this week’s boys basketball semifinals included No. 3 Montgomery (Open Division), No. 2 Victory Christian Academy (Division II), No. 1 Olympian (Division III), No. 1 Southwest (Division IV) and No. 3 High Tech High Chula Vista (Division IV).
In games on Tuesday, Olympian (27-3) topped fourth-seeded Mira Mesa, 60-33, to meet third-seeded Monte Vista (23-8) in Thursday’s championship round while Southwest (28-2) nipped fourth-seeded Canyon Hills, 74-69, in overtime to advance to Thursday’s final against second-seeded Mt. Miguel (22-8).
Freshman Tristan Anderson (19 points) and senior Nathan Cacao (16 points) paced Olympian in Tuesday’s semifinal victory while the Matadors closed the book on the season for High Tech High-Chula Vista (23-5) with an 80-72 win.
Southwest coach Steve Selland described the semifinal match-up against Canyon Hills as “intense.”
“We were behind most of the first half but came back to lead 34-33 at the half,” the veteran coach said. “In the third quarter got outscored 11-4, eventually falling behind by 12. We were still behind by 10 with about two minutes to go but came back to tie the game on a three-point shot by Xavier Gonzalez to force overtime.
“Shaun Verdida hit a 3 to begin OT and then stole the ball and scored, as we got up by eight in OT, eventually holding on for a 74-69 win.
Southwest scorers included Gonzalez (27), Aaron Rosillo (14), Verdida (11), Noah Soltero (8), Brandon Borja (8), Danny Canonizado (6).
The finals versus Mt. Miguel will be a difficult game as we try to recover quickly, having to try to get ready to play again immediately on Thursday,” Selland said.
Montgomery denied sixth-seeded Mission Hills, 49-41, in last Saturday’s Open Division quarterfinal, then toppled second-seeded St. Augustine in Wednesday’s prime time semifinal encounter.
The Aztecs (28-2) will meet top-seeded Carlsbad (28-2) in Saturday’s Open Division final at UC San Diego.
Victory Christian Academy fell short of joining the school’s girls team in the finals in absorbing a mostly self-inflicted 66-63 upset loss to visiting University City on Wednesday. The Knights can look at their poor free-throw shooting as the primary culprit while the Centurins generally feasted at the charity stripe.
Despite trailing by 12 points, VCA battled back to trail by one point very late in the game. However, each time after narrowing the score to a single pint, the Knights were forced to foul UC players in a bid to get the ball back. Each time, the Cents made their foulk shots to expand their lead to three points.
The Knights got the ball with 7.1 seconds left but their bid for a three-point shot to tie the game and send it ito overtime was intercepted. The final buzzer sounded with the ball in UC hands.
Teams advancing to this week’s girls basketball semifinals included No. 3 Victory Christian Academy (Division II), No. 1 Montgomery (Division III), No. 4 Sweetwater (Division V) and No. 5 Ocean View Christian (Division V-AA).
In semifinal games on Tuesday, Montgomery powered past fourth-seeded Vista, 83-41, on the strength of 28 points each from sophomore Paula Zumstein and senior Jordan Whitehead to advance the Lady Aztecs (20-11) to Thursday’s division final against second-seeded Sage Creek (19-9).
Sophomore Genevieve Whitehead dropped in three three-point bombs to add to the exciting display.
Teams advancing to this week’s boys soccer semifinals included No. 6 Olympian (Division III), No. 3 Mater Dei Catholic (Division IV) and No. 2 Castle Park (Division V).
In games on Tuesday, Castle Park (13-4-5) defeated sixth-seeded Madison, 2-0, to advance to Thursday’s division final against top-seeded Classical Academy (16-8-2) while Mater Dei Catholic shut out 10th-seeded Granite Hills, 4-0, to advance to Thursday’s championship game against top-seeded Mission Bay (18-0-1).
Getziel Andrade and Nicholas Lopez each scored for Castle Park in Tuesday’s semifinal. Roberto Escobedo led the Trojans in last Friday’s 4-3 win over seventh-seeded Vincent Memorial Catholic with two goals while Andrade and Oscar Cruz each scored once.
Olympian (17-4-6) upset third-seeded La Jolla Country Day, 2-0, in last Friday’s quarterfinals on goals by sophomore Dylan Loe and senior Flavio Mora Gil. The Eagles won again in Wednesday’s semifinals to advancxe to Friday’s Division III final at 4:30 p.m. at Bonita Viasta High School.
Teams advancing to this week’s girls soccer semifinals included No. 2 Eastlake (Open Division), No. 3 Mater Dei Catholic (Division I), No. 5 Bonita Vista (Division I) and No. 2 Mar Vista (Division V).
In games on Tuesday, Mar Vista (16-6-2) blanked third-seeded Southwest El Centro, 1-0, to advance to Thursday’s division final against top-seeded O’Farrell Charter (15-3-2).
Bonita Vista and Mater Dei Catholic both won their semifinal games on Wednesday to meet in Friday’s all-Metro Division I championship game Friday at 5 p.m. at Madison High School.
By the numbers
In all, 12 Metro teams qualified for this year’s divisional championship games, possibly a record or certainly near to one.
“That’s impressive, it really is,” Metro Conference athletics director Alex Esatrada said.
The semifinal bounty placed four girls soccer teams, three boys basketball teams, threee boys soccer teams and two girls basketball teams into finals matchups.
The section’s basketball and soccer championship games are scheduled this weekend. UC San Diego will host the boys and girls Open Division basketball finals on Saturday, Feb. 24, while Bonita Vista High School will host the Open Division soccer finals earlier that day.
Venues for the boys and girls basketball championship games include UC San Diego (Open Division), Otay Ranch High School (Division I and Division IV), San Marcos High School (Division II), Canyon Crest Academy (Division III) and Clairemont High School (Division V and Division V-AA).
The Division I and Division II boys finals are scheduled Friday, Feb. 23, both for 7:30 p.m. starts. The Division III boys final is scheduled Thursday, Feb. 22, at 5 p.m. The Division IV boys final is scheduled Thursday, Feb. 22, at 7:30 p.m. The Division V boys final is scheduled Thursday, Feb. 22, at 5 p.m. while the Division V-AA boys final is scheduled Friday, Feb. 23, at 5 p.m.
The Division I and Division II girls finals are both scheduled for 5 p.m. starts on Friday, Feb. 23. The Division III girls final is scheduled Thursday, Feb. 22, at 7:30 p.m. The Division IV girls final is scheduled for Thursday, Feb. 22, at 5 p.m. The Division V girls final is scheduled Thursday, Feb. 22, at 7:30 p.m. while the Division V-AA girls final is scheduled Friday, Feb. 23, at 7:30 p.m.
Open Division finals are Saturday, Feb. 24 — boys at 5 p.m. and girls at 8 p.m.
Venues for boys and girls soccer include Bonita Vista High School (Open Division, Division III, Division V), Madison High School (Division I and Division IV), San Pasqual High School (Division II and Division V-AA).
The Open Division finals are Saturday, Feb. 24 — noon for girls and 3 p.m. boys.
The Division I and Division II boys finals are scheduled Friday, Feb. 23, at 7:30 p.m. The Division III boys final is scheduled Friday, Feb. 23, at 4:30 p.m. The Division IV boys final is scheduled Thursday, Feb. 22, at 7:30 p.m. The Division V boys final and Division V-AA final are scheduled Thursday, Feb. 22, at 4:30 p.m.
The Division I and Division II girls finals are scheduled Friday, Feb. 23, at 4:30 p.m. The Division III girls final is scheduled for Friday, Feb. 23, at 7:30 p.m. The Division IV girls final is scheduled Thursday, Feb. 22, at 4:30 p.m. The Division V girls final is scheduled Thursday, Feb. 22, at 7:30 p.m. The Division V-AA girls final is scheduled Thursday, Feb. 22, at 7:30 p.m.
For playoff updates, visit the website at www.cifsds.org.
San Diego Section Semifinal Playoffs
BOYS BASKETBALL:
Open Division: (3) Montgomery 56, (1) St. Augustine 39
Division II: (3) University City 66, (2) Victory Christian 63
Division III: (1) Olympian 60, (4) Mira Mesa 33
Division IV: (1) Southwest 74, (4) Canyon Hills 69 (OT)
GIRLS BASKETBALL:
Division II: (3) Victory Christian 65, (2) Bishop’s 36
Division III: (1) Montgomery 83, (4) Vista 41
BOYS SOCCER:
Division III: (6) Olympian 2, (2) Vista 1
Division IV: (3) Mater Dei Catholic 4, (10) Granite Hills 0
Division V: (2) Castle Park 2, (6) Madison 0
GIRLS SOCCER:
Open Division: (2) Eastlake 2, (3) Mission Hills 1
Division I: (3) Mater Dei Catholic 2, (7) Coronado 0
Division I: (5) Bonita Vista 3, (1) Our Lady of Peace 2
Division V:(2) Mar Vista 1, (3) Southwest El Centro 0
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