Palm Desert Girls Struggle in CIF Loss

The Palm Desert Lady Aztecs found out that when the playoffs start, you have to play hard for all 32 minutes. 

Visiting Irvine High reaped the rewards of a slow Palm Desert start with a 46-37 victory in the opening round of the CIF-Southern Section girls basketball playoffs. 

Palm Desert came out flat and uninspired in the first half, allowing the taller and more athletic Lady Vaqueros to dominate the inside and open up at 31-13 halftime lead.  The PD girls weren’t executing the offense, and were hesitant to drive to the basket on open plays, opting to slow up and look to pass. 

The only thing that was working for Palm Desert was the 3-point shooting of freshman guard Bianca Gutierrez.  Gutierrez scored all nine of the Lady Aztecs first quarter points on long range shooting. 

Palm Desert coach Clint Vallie was unimpressed, and fired into his team at the halftime break. 

“I told them it was the worst game I’d ever seen. And if they didn’t play good in four minutes, I was taking the out and putting the JVs [reserves] in," Vallie said, "I’m tired of watching them (play poorly) and I’m not gonna watch any more, and if you guys don’t get it together, I was going to watch somebody else.” 

The Aztecs came out inspired and played much more aggressively in the second half, forcing Irvine to commit five team fouls in the opening two minutes.  Palm Desert used that to their advantage, opening the offense to narrow the visitor’s lead to just seven points after three quarters. 

But the final period was something no one saw coming;  a defensive showcase by both sides.   Palm Desert had problems penetrating inside as they had in the third quarter, while Irvine was unable to hit shots from anywhere on the floor.  Palm Desert held Irvine to seven points over the first 5 minutes of the period, and nothing after. 

Unfortunately, Irvine’s defense was equal to the task, shutting Palm Desert out over the final four minutes of the game, to take the 46-37 win. 

Vallie was proud of his team for stepping up, “I’m happy they came back and played a great second half.  If we played like that in the first half, it might have been a hell of a game.” 

The Lady Aztecs finish the season at 16-11.