SRJC 54, College of the Redwoods 46
It' Playoff Time! The top 24 seeded teams in the North made the playoffs. Teams seeded #1-8 earned First Round byes and will await the winners of Round 1. Teams #9-16 host teams #17-24 with winners advancing to Round 2. Six Big 8 teams are in the playoffs: Big 8 Champions San Joaquin Delta earned the #2 seed, Sierra College is #3, Folsom Lake College #5, SRJC #13, Modesto Junior College #17, and Cosumnes River College #19.
In Round 1 of the playoffs the Bear Cubs (16-12, 7-9), who finished in sixth place in the nine-team Big 8, hosted the #20 College of the Redwoods Corsairs (11-16, 2-6), the fourth place team in the five-team Golden Valley Conference. Ivy Gonzalez scored the first basket on a drive after 49 seconds of play and added two free throws over two minutes later. Her putback at the 6:11 mark gave the Bear Cubs a 6-0 lead. Thirty-one seconds later Aniah Gaither beat the defenders down court for an uncontested layup to get the Corsairs on the scoreboard. The Bear Cubs tallied eight more points on Hailey Webb's 3-pointer, Abby Tacla's 10-footer, and Gonzalez's 3-pointer with five seconds left. Nora Talty swished a 3-pointer just before the buzzer, cutting the Bear Cubs' lead to 14-5.
Neither team was able to score in the first two minutes of the second quarter before Kyla Albee sank a 3-pointer at the 7:50 mark. Sydney Martin put in a left-handed swooping shot from three feet out. Nora Talty and Aniah Gaither each sank a field goal, and then Caitlin Baldwin swished a 3-pointer. Gaither scored inside again and Baldwin another 3-pointer with 4:23 on the clock. Hailey Webb drained a shot from beyond the arc with 1:01 left for a 25-14 advantage. Kyla Albee sank a 2-pointer two seconds before the buzzer, making the Bear Cubs' lead 25-16 by halftime.
Aniah Gaither scored on a putback on the Corsairs' opening possession of the third quarter. Eleven seconds later Lindsey Arellano banked in a layup on a give-and-go play with Ivy Gonzalez. Caidence Young's steal and layup at the 7:52 mark made the Corsairs' deficit 20-27. Gonzalez's 1-footer on a low post shot was followed by Kaia Eubanks' 1-footer off of Gonzalez's assist. Thirteen seconds later Nora Talty sank a field goal. Ivy Gonzalez scored the next four points on a pair of free throws and a 1-footer after catching the pass from Eubanks with 3:30 left. The Corsairs responded with five unanswered points on a 3-pointer by Young and a field goal by Kyla Albee with 2:16 remaining. Ivy Gonzalez's putback with 25 seconds left completed the scoring for the Bear Cubs. Albee swished a 3-pointer 11 seconds after that to get within seven points at 30-37 by the end of the quarter.
The Corsairs started the fourth quarter with a 5-0 run on Caidence Young's 3-pointer and Moriah Bowles' basket. Caitlin Baldwin drove along the baseline from the right side and tossed in a reverse shot back over her head after getting to the left side of the hoop. Kyla Albee's 3-pointer at the 6:59 mark got the Corsairs within a single point. The Bear Cubs scored six unanswered points on Caitlin Baldwin's drive, Kaia Eubanks' 15-footer, and Cece Solano's bank shot from just above the free throw line with 3:58 on the clock. Albee drew a shooting foul 30 seconds later and made one free throw. Hailey Webb swished a 3-pointer twenty-five seconds after that. The Bear Cubs added two points on one free throw each by Ivy Gonzalez and Lindsey Arellano for a 50-39 margin with 2:07 left. Albee made two field goals to get to 43-50 with 42 seconds left. With the Corsairs having to foul, Kaia Eubanks went to the free throw line and made both with 25 seconds remaining. Albee quickly drained a 3-pointer to close the gap to 46-52. After the Bear Cubs inbounded the ball to Gonzalez, she was fouled. She made both free
throws to complete the scoring, as the Bear Cubs were able to hold off the Corsairs 54-46 and advance to Round 2 of the NorCal Playoffs where they face #4 seeded San Jose City College.
The Bear Cubs committed 22 turnovers and had difficulty scoring against the Corsairs' zone defense. They only made 19 out of 62 shots (31%), including 6 out of 25 (24%) from 3-point range. But two 3-pointers by Caitlin Baldwin and three of them by Hailey Webb proved vital in the Bear Cubs' win. Kyla Albee led all scorers with 21 points. Aniah Gaither and Caidence Young each totaled 8 points.
Ivy Gonzalez's twelfth double-double of 20 points and 14 rebounds led the Bear Cubs. Caitlin Baldwin came off the bench and scored a career-high 10 points. Hailey Webb added 9 points, Kaia Eubanks 6, Lindsey Arellano 3, Cece Solano, Abby Tacla, and Sydney Martin 2 each. Kaia Eubanks was second in rebounding with 11, and Sydney Martin pulled down 9. Lindsey Arellano led assists with 4.