Girls Basketball: Panthers Fall to Stockton Powerhouse

St. Mary's-Stockton 58, St. Mary's-Albany 53

The Star: Forward Shannon Mauldin led the Panthers with 17 points, most of which came on layups against the press.

The Turning Point: The Panthers had trailed for most of the second half, but took a 53-51 lead with about two minutes remaining. They then lost control of the game, as the Rams scored the final seven points.

The Quote: “We play a lot of good teams. We just need to start beating some of them," said Panthers coach Nathan Fripp.

What’s Next?: St. Mary’s hosts crosstown rival Albany on Wednesday, Jan. 19 at 7.

Bottom Line: The Panthers missed an opportunity for a statement win on Monday. 

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When the began their game against the St. Mary’s Rams of Stockton on Monday, they knew their chances of winning would rest on how they fared against the full-court press.

The result: not good.

The Panthers committed a number of turnovers on their way to a 58-53 loss at Haas Pavilion in Berkeley at the annual MLK Classic hosted by De La Salle.

St. Mary’s-Stockton -- which MaxPreps.com has ranked as one of the top-10 teams in the country each of the last three years -- employed an oppressive, trapping press for the entire game. The Panthers exploited the pressure for a number of easy transition buckets, but they also were forced into bad passes and mental errors that allowed the Rams to get some easy scores of their own.

“We knew they were going to do this,” Panthers coach Nathan Fripp said. “They’ve done this every year for the last 10 years. Today was no different. We were ready for it, but we didn’t handle it like we should have.”

The pressure forced the Panthers’ forwards to handle the ball in the backcourt — an uncomfortable situation for players who like to do their damage in the paint. When the Panthers’ forwards could find a teammate streaking down the sideline, they often finished with layups. When the defense swarmed before a teammate could be found, the Rams often forced turnovers.

“You have to be mentally tough to go up against this team,” Fripp said. “They make it hard on you.”

When the game began, the Panthers were the ones making life difficult for the Rams. SMCHS jumped to an early 9-0 lead on the strength of crisp passing and stifling half-court defense. The Panthers finished the first quarter ahead 18-11.

That’s when disaster struck.

In the second period the Rams harassed and overwhelmed the Panthers’ ballhandlers, getting easy buckets off of turnovers. The Stockton school outscored SMCHS 22-7 in the second period, taking a 33-25 lead into halftime.

“In the first quarter, we were getting to the basket and finishing when we got there,” Fripp said. “In the second quarter we started throwing it away, stepping out of bounds, not making the small plays you have to make. We got complacent. We maybe got a little fatigued.”

The Panthers bounced back in the third quarter, chipping away at the lead and closing the deficit to three, at 44-41, going into the fourth. The Panthers continued fighting in the fourth quarter, taking a 53-51 lead on a layup by Emily Vann with about two minutes to play. 

But the Rams seized control and maintained it the rest of the way, scoring the final seven points of the game.

“We just didn’t execute down the stretch,” Fripp said. “We fought back, but we couldn’t make the plays at the end.”

In addition to their tough defense, the Rams also won on the strength of their blistering outside shooting. The Stockton school made just as many 3-pointers — 10 — as they did 2-point field goals. 

Shannon Mauldin led SMCHS with 17 points, many of which came on layups in transition. Mikayla Cowling chipped in 10 for the Panthers.

Asked if his team had learned anything about itself against such a strong program, Fripp said that for the Panthers, this was just another game.

“We play against a lot of good teams,” he said. “We just need to start beating some of them.

SMS

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Everybody makes mistakes ... ! If there's something in this article you think should be corrected, or if something else is amiss, give editor Emilie Raguso a ring at 510-459-8325 or shoot her an e-mail at emilier@patch.com.