The Montgomery High School girls basketball team has punched its ticket to the San Diego Section finals three times: 1997, 2007 and 2015. The Lady Aztecs are still looking for their first division championship after dropping a 53-38 decision to Carlsbad in last Friday’s Division II final.
“This is our third appearance and we have zero championships,” Montgomery head coach Cassie Klockgether said.
For the first half, however, it appeared as if the fourth-seeded Lady Aztecs (24-8) might grab their first title.
Montgomery built an 18-16 halftime lead after jumping out to an 11-6 edge at the end of the first quarter.
But cold shooting by the reigning Metro-South Bay League champions and hot shooting by the seventh-seeded Lady Lancers (21-9) in the second half reversed the score. Carlsbad outscored Montgomery 20-10 in the third quarter to zip in front 36-28. The Lady Lancers sealed their win with a 17-10 scoring average in the fourth quarter.
Several Lady Aztec players took the loss especially hard, openly weeping prior to the awards ceremony.
Klockgether, an MOH alumna, gave a knowing look. “We have five seniors,” she said.
Carlsbad led 44-38 with 2:43 left in the game. Montgomery could get no closer on the scoreboard. Carlsbad’s Julia Madrid dropped in a shot with 1:34 to play to expand the Lady Lancers’ lead to 46-38 and teammate Rebecca Allen made two foul shots with 1:06 left to put Carlsbad up 48-38.
The Lady Lancers added five more free throws down the stretch to win by 15 points.
“Carlsbad came out in the second half with a good game plan,” Klockgether said. “We had a tough time (with that). We didn’t make enough shots.”
Montgomery made just nine of 47 attempts from the floor (19.1 percent) and three of 21 three-point attempts (14.3 percent). The Lady Aztecs were 17-for-26 from the free throw line.
Carlsbad’s numbers were much better. The Lady Lancers shot 31.1 percent from the floor and hit on 15 of 16 shots from the charity stripe.
Carlsbad held a decisive 54 to 31 advantage in rebounds and scored 17 points off turnovers.
The Lady Lancers collected 63.5 percent of the rebounds in the game, including 78 percent on the defensive side of the ball. The Lady Aztecs finished just 22 percent on offensive rebounds.
“We like to run an up-tempo game but we couldn’t do that,” Klockgether said.
Both teams upset higher-seeded opponents to reach the championship game. Montgomery toppled top-seeded Helix, 67-62, in the semifinals on March 3 while Carlsbad upset second-seeded Santa Fe Christian, 50-45, in the quarterfinals and eliminated 11th-seeded Central Union, 60-40, in the semifinals.
Murrellene Woodson led Montgomery with 16 points in the championship game. Nobody else was close on the score sheet. Mikaelah Wieland was next with five points while Alexa Padilla, Katherine Carnacite and Evangeline Morga each had four points.
Madrid led Carlsbad with 23 points while Allen had 12 points. Madrid also led all players in the game with 14 rebounds. Danielle Bosley had 11 boards.
Wieland had eight rebounds to key the Lady Aztecs. Woodson also had four steals.
All for one
Klockgether said the team’s group of five seniors all started in the program when they were freshmen.
“We faced many adversities along the way, but my team are fighters,” Klockgether said. “We like to tell our girls every game is a championship game. Every practice is a preparation for a championship game. It is that mentally that our girls began to have, and since then, it’s been an amazing ride.
“Once we found out our seeding number we threw that out the window along with our league banner and our 15-game winning streak. We had a new goal: to go 4-0 and stay alive by taking it one game at a time.
“Every game we make minor adjustments, but in the end, we stick to our system and play our game. Each playoff game has been an incredible experience. I’ve had the privilege to watch my girls demonstrate their growth while simultaneously uniting a community through their captivating performance on the court.”
Klockgether called the road win over Helix “definitely a team win” — as most of the Lady Aztecs’ games have been.
“Everyone has a role to fulfill from our mangers to each of our players and I believe it is the unity, hard work, and dedication each person has within our program that has contributed to our success,” she said.
