Schools
Girls NCS Finals: Miramonte Falls Short Against Bishop O'Dowd
Matadors lose for first time this season.
Bishop O’Dowd 73, Miramonte 49
Bishop O’Dowd High simply overwhelmed previously undefeated Miramonte high in the North Coast Section Division III finals by a count of 73-49, Saturday afternoon at McKeon Pavilion.
The Dragon’s 6-foor-2 forward Kendall Waters (18 rebounds, 6 blocks) and 6-foot-4 center Oderah Chidom dominated the glass, combining for 26 rebounds and made it nearly impossible for the Matadors to get a shot up in the lane.
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Waters led all scorers with 16 points, while Chidom tallied 15.
“I told the girls prior to the game that this was going to be the best team they faced all season,” said Miramonte coach Kelly Sopak of the number one seeded Dragons. “I thought the girls played hard and with great effort.”
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Despite the lopsided result, O’Dowd had little success slowing down Taylor Kizziee, who accounted for 18 points to go with five rebounds and three steals. Kizziee had little scoring help as the Mats turned in their lowest scoring performance of the season with 49 points. Their previous low was 63 against San Marin in the preseason.
The combination of the Dragon’s lightening quick fastbreak and precision passing proved to be the difference, as Bishop O’Dowd snapped Miramonte’s 28 game winning streak.
“We may see them again and if we do we have to improve our rebounding,” said Sopak. “Throughout the season I have been saying before each game that we need to go on another one-game winning streak. That is exactly what I will tell the team when I get in the locker room, it’s a good time to go on another one game winning streak.”
The size of O’Dowd took its toll as the Dragon lead grew with each passing quarter. The Mats were squarely in the contest after the first period with the score as 18-13. But the deficit doubled at the half and by the end of the third Miramonte trailed by 20 points.
O’Dowd’s backcourt of Aisia Robertson and Ariell Bostick proved to be as electric as their frontcourt. Robertson made numerious highlight plays on forays to the hoop, while the floor general Bostick found open teammates all over the floor and pushed the tempo.
Postgame, Sopak acknowledged the team’s unbelievable run, but he seemed more motivated than anything for his players to build from the loss and improve in the state championship tournament.
O’Dowd likely secured the number one seed in the NorCal bracket and will look to make their second straight trip to the state title game.
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Bishop O’Dowd 73, Miramonte 49
1
2
3
4
F
Miramonte
13
13
10
13
49
Bishop O’Dowd
18
18
20
17
73
Individuals — (fg ftm-fta tp)
Miramonte
Kizziee 7 2-2 18, Reid 3 2-2 8, Masarweh 0 2-2 2, McDonald 2 3-8 7, Miller 1 0-0 2, Gill 1 4-8 7, Alford 2 1-2 5. Totals 16 14-24 49.
Bishop O’Dowd
T homas 4 0-0 8, Bostick 1 4-8 6, Nickerson 0 0-1 0, Robertson 7 1-3 15, Kalmbach 0 3-6 3, Huntington 2 0-0 4, Chidom 7 1-2 15, Brown 2 2-4 6, Waters 8 0-0 16. Totals 31 11-24 73.
Fouled out: None. Technicals: none.
Records: Miramonte 28-1; Bishop O’Dowd 27-3.
North Coast Section Division III Finals, girls basketball, 3/3/12