Turnabout proved fair play for the Olympian High School girls basketball team in last Friday’s San Diego Section Division II championship game at SDSU’s Viejas Arena.
Trailing fourth-seeded Vista High School by six points at halftime, second-seeded Olympian regrouped in the second half to out-point the Panthers 38-26 to secure a 61-55 victory and the east side Chula Vista school’s first CIF championship in the sport.
“It is unbelievable,” OHS coach Fred Von Husen said. “Our goal at the beginning of the season was to get here and now we’ve won it.”
The Eagles (17-12) limited turnovers and came up big in the rebounding department to engineer their inspired comeback win.
Standout Cynthia Green also turned up the heat in the scoring department.
Whereas Vista’s Daeyanna Hale had stuffed the bucket in the first half, Green poured it on in the second half to finish with a career high 30 points to go with 18 rebounds and four assists.
Hale finished the game with 23 points.
A key 10-1 run in the third quarter positioned the Eagles with a 35-33 lead. Olympian out-scored Vista 9-4 to start the fourth quarter to extend its lead to 47-41.
Down the stretch run the Eagles managed to maintain that six-point lead.
“At halftime, we decided to stop trying for three points and just concentrate on shooting two-pointers and making our free throws,” Von Husen said. “We knew we had the ability to win.”
Malia Talavera dropped in 11 points to assist the Eagles in the come-from-behind win. Other contributors included Isabella Fidelino with seven points and six rebounds and Shaniyah Rankin with six points and nine rebounds.
Olympian, which finished fourth in the Mesa League standings, defeated third-seeded Montgomery (17-11), 58-48, in the semifinals on Feb. 27 behind 23 points from Green.
Green had 20 points in a 55-38 quarterfinal-round victory against 10th-seeded Our Lady of Peace on Feb. 24.
Vista (15-16) upset top-seeded Carlsbad, 71-52, in the semifinals and looked every bit as sharp in the early going last Friday.
Green entered Wednesday’s Southern California regional playoff game at Cathedral City with a 15.4 season scoring average.
