Sports
GIRLS BASKETBALL: Semifinal Shocker
No. 1 seeded Scotts Valley stunned by St. Francis in SCCAL tournament semis.
St. Francis 51, Scotts Valley 45
The Star: With its top two scorers struggling to find an offensive rhythm, Scotts Valley freshman guard Angela Silver scored a team-high 14 points to keep her team within an earshot of escaping with a win until the game’s final moments. Liz Munger scored 10 points, Tori McBride finished with eight points and Natalia Ebrahimian had four points for the Falcons.
The Turning Point: Tightly contested from start-to-finish, a pair of St. Francis baskets off Scotts Valley (20-5, 12-1 SCCAL) turnovers opened up the biggest lead of the night for the Cinderella St. Francis (17-10, 7-6 SCCAL) bunch. Senior center Chloe Breszny finished inside to extend the lead to six, then senior guard Gianna Azzaro ripped off a steal at midcourt and flew in for the score. The bucket forced a Scotts Valley timeout and gave St. Francis a surprising 44-35 lead with 4:14 left in the fourth quarter.
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The Quote: "Turnovers, lack of defense and rebounding hurt us tonight." —Scotts Valley head coach Jim Hart said after the sobering defeat in the Santa Cruz Coast Athletic league tournament semifinals. “Our defense was very poor. This one stings right now, but I’d rather get bit in the league tournament than in CCS. We certainly got bit tonight. Give credit to St. Francis. They played really well tonight.”
What's Next? Scotts Valley will await the unveiling of the Central Coast Section playoff brackets this weekend. The Falcons are expected to earn a top-two seed in the Division IV draw. CCS playoff action begins next week.
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Bottom Line: A 15-game winning streak and a perfect 12-0 mark in SCCAL play ended Thursday night for the Falcons. With St. Francis playing without its top scorer—junior guard Ana Lasich missed the game with a knee injury—the Falcons lack of energy early kept the higher seed in the game. Turnovers, foul trouble, defensive coverage and rebounding issues plagued the mighty Falcons on this night. The rare off night bounced the Falcons from the league tournament, but with a young roster loaded with talent and having racked up 20 wins during the 2010-11 regular season, this group still has the look of a CCS-title contender.
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