Windward Girls Hoops Cruises Into CIF Semis

Windward School sophomore Courtney Jaco set the tone early in Wednesday night's CIF S0uthern Section Division 4AA girls basketball quarterfinal contest.

Her three-pointer to open the game was followed by three more in a one minute, 15 second span of the first quarter and the early barrage propelled the Wildcats to a 17-2 lead that was as good as insurmountable. Windward went on to win 80-39.

The closest that visiting Atascadero (17-9) came was 10 points when it narrowed the deficit to 25-15, but Windward (23-4) used an 11-0 run to pull away, sparked by Jaco's fifth and final three-pointer of the night.

“I knew this was a big game, so I came out with a lot of energy," said Jaco, who finished with a game-high 21 points, including 5-of-8 three-pointers. "I knew I had to knock down big-time shots, so I just did that.” 

As the second half started Windward was ahead 48-24. The Greyhounds struck first on sophomore Mary Kate Evans’ free throw, but the Wildcats responded with a 19-3 run to increase their lead to 67-28.

In the second half it was junior Paris Baird who anchored the team; she touched off the run with six straight points on two free throws  and two layups. She later added two more layups, including the last shot of the game, and finished with 14 points.

Windward junior Imani Stafford and freshman Macchiati Smith each scored 12 points and freshman Jordin Canada added 11 points. For the Greyhounds, Evans led with 12 points and senior Alyssa Palma tallied 10.

Atascadero head coach Jim Stecher said his team dug itself into a hole with 15 turnovers in the first half, forcing the Greyhounds to “gamble” with early, hurried shots to try and get out of it.

“You can’t gamble against a good team." he said. "That creates more problems."

Windward is "a strong team," Stecher added, but if not for the uncharacteristic turnovers his squad should have lost by only about 15 to 20 points instead of the final 41-point margin.

Windward assistant coach Tim O’Halloran said that although the Wildcats played well, they have a few things to clean up before the next game Saturday.

“We need to play a little harder defensively, figure a few things out in that regard,” O'Halloran said. “But offensively we got out our transitions very, very well, we got a lift off the bench tonight, and we did a much better job of rebounding in the second half, which was key to the victory.” 

The Wildcats will travel to Fullerton Rosary on Saturday for the semifinals. The Royals (19-9) defeated Yorba Linda 59-42 in their quarterfinal game Wednesday night.