Bonita Vista High School girls basketball coach Wayne Wooten found out just what his team is made of in Wednesday’s San Diego Section Division II opening round playoff game at Chula Vista High School.
Leading by as much as 16 points in the first half, the Lady Barons saw the host Lady Spartans engineer a heroic second-half comeback to take the lead with three minutes left in the game.
To compound that, Wooten’s team was without the services of its leading scorer, junior Carol Schroeder, who had fouled out of the contest.
But braced by a three-point bomb from Brooklyn Valdez, four clutch free throws in a 20-second span from Ashley Quidolit and a game-sealing pair from the charity stripe by Daeshya Battle, third-seeded Bonita Vista outlasted 14th-seeded Chula Vista by a score of 61-57.
The Lady Barons (20-6) advanced to this weekend’s quarterfinals while the season ended too early for the Metro-Pacific League champion Lady Spartans (12-16).
“You got to give Chula Vista credit,” Wooten said. “They made the adjustment (at halftime). It’s been a rivalry for years between our two schools. I told the girls they weren’t going to lie down.
“When Carol fouled out with four minutes to play, our girls stepped up. They went to the plate and executed. It’s going to get harder as we advance in each round.”
The 2014-15 BVHS hoops squad is chasing the Lady Baron team that made it to the CIF finals in 2007-08.
Schroeder, who led the team with a 16.3 season scoring average, dropped in 15 points during her time on the playing court. Valdez came up huge for the winners with 19 points while Shyla LaTone poured in 18 points.
Bonita Vista sank nine treys in the game, including five by Valdez.
Chula Vista’s Breanna Morales led all scorers in the game with 20 points while Maria Tinajero added 13 points and Julia Chambers had eight points in a losing effort.
The game proved to be tale of two halves for each team.
When the Lady Spartans tied the contest, 47-all, with 4:49 to play in the final quarter, loud chants of “Chula! Chula!” filled the gym.
“The first half we came out with a lot of energy,” Wooten said. “I told the team in practice that we needed to come out and dictate the tempo. They did that. The second half, they relaxed. Give Chula Vista credit for coming back.”
Bonita Vista draws 11th-seeded Central Union (16-11) in the next round, scheduled Saturday at 7 p.m. at BVHS. (A Friday girls-boys double-header with start times of 5 and 7 p.m. is under discussion, so call the school at 216-5000.)
