Lady Cougars downed but not out

The #4 seeded Capital Christian Lady Cougars had a tough match up last night at Galt High School for the semi final playoff game against the #1 seed Brookside Christian of Stockton.  Brookside (25-4) are ranked #91 in the state and have always been the team to beat in the SJS Section. The Lady Cougars (17-12) knew they would have to play big to make it to the section finals.  

The Brookside Knights got off to a great start drawing first blood. The Cougars were a little unsettled and a number of turnovers in the opening minutes led to a 7-2 start in favor of the Knights. The Cougars found their composure after Sophomore standout Haleigh Filer hit a nice 3, then Brookside missed their next shot and then fouled Senior Shelby Hicks and sent her to the line where she made both freebies. Brookside were in trouble missing a lot of shots and the Cougars capitalized by rebounding strongly through Nicole and Monique Colbert.

Turnovers forced by the pressure of the Brookside guards hurt the Cougars but the Lady Cougars kept themselves in the game giving Brookside far more pressure than they expected. Shelby Hicks hit another beautiful bank shot off the glass to bring the score to 18-9. Then Haleigh Filer was fouled and made both free throws to get the Cougars within 7. Another foul to Filer and one free throw drew the Cougars even closer. Brookside committed another turnover on a travel and at 6.15 in the second it was 18-12 and the Lady Cougars definitely had a chance. Brookside were not shooting the ball well and the Cougar defenders were grabbing every rebound opportunity. Unfortunately for the Cougars, their high turnover rate did not allow them to fully capitalize on their opportunities.  Hayleigh Filer had a fantastic up and under shot to bring the Cougars within 6 at 20-14.  Filer followed up with a second steal in under a minute but a missed shot gave Brookside the rebound and they retaliated with a layup. Brookside missed their next layup followed by a foul to Shelby Hicks which gave the Lady Cougars another freethrow to keep the Cougars in the game at 22-15. Then  another 2 from Nicole Colbert brought the Cougars within 7 at 24-17.  That was the point that the Brookside Knights found their mojo. The Knights went on an 11-0 run in the last minute and a half of the quarter to lead 35-17 at half time.

The Lady Cougars had no answer for talented Sophomore Tiara Tucker and 6'1" Freshman Ra'kyra Gabriel who ran amok in the third quarter.  The Cougars were missing the firepower of Senior Chelsey Aardahl who had stomach flu.  The Knights had a 29 point third quarter to seal the deal - 40 points in 10 minutes was impressive.  The Lady Cougars found few opportunities and scored only 4 points in each of the last two quarters.  The final scoreline was 71-25.The Brookside Knights will go on to the Section Final at Power Balance Pavillion.

The Lady Cougars have qualified for the NorCal Finals and will have their first game Wednesday March 7th.  The schedule for NorCals will be released on Sunday afternoon by the Sac Joaquin Section.