SHINGLE SPRINGS — The road to a CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Division III title ended for the East Union Lancers on Tuesday night, as they fell 63-51 to the 2-seed Ponderosa Bruins.
The semifinal was the second meeting of the season for the two teams, which met in the season opener back on Nov. 22. The Bruins (27-4) pulled away late in the 55-40 victory.
In the rematch, the third-seeded Lancers (23-7) found themselves down early, thanks to foul trouble and a hot shooting start from their hosts.
“You come on the road, playing a good quality team like Ponderosa, you have to be on your game from the beginning,” Lancers coach Jim Agostini said. “Starts like tonight happen in basketball, but it really hurts when they happen in a game as big as tonight’s.”
With freshman point guard Haven Stone on the bench after having picked up two quick fouls early on, the Lancers struggled to get the offense going. The Bruins had little issues of their own, converting on driving layups and clutch free throws to take a 15-8 lead into the second quarter.
“We had seen East Union before and came into the game with a plan,” Ponderosa coach Breanna Rizzo said. “I thought we got off to a great start shooting the ball and attacking the basket.”
The Bruins were led all season long by three players averaging double digits in points, and all three came up big early on. Brooklynn Nordquist, Rowan Thomas, and Casey Dreiling combined for 26 points in the first half, outscoring East Union 26-16 on their own. Nordquist would finish the game with 23, Thomas poured in 18 of her own, and Dreiling scored 11 while leading the offense at point guard.
“These three girls understand what they need to do when we need them the most, and we needed them tonight,” Rizzo said. “They put up big numbers for us on the scoreboard, but they also find the balance in sharing the ball, and I think that only sets them up to get better looks offensively.”
Down 16 coming out of halftime, East Union came alive offensively, scoring 15 points in the third, led strong finishing around the rim from Julianna Gaspar, Jayda Anderson, and Ava Barrera. While the defensive intensity from East Union was ramped up, Ponderosa continued to shoot lights-out in the third. The Bruins converted three of their seven 3-pointers in the game to extend the lead to 50-31 to end the quarter.
“We tried a couple things at halftime, and I thought the team really responded well,” Agostini said. “But when you give up the start we did and let a confident good shooting team get going, it’s really hard to slow them down.”
East Union started the fourth quarter in a full-court press and forced six turnovers while converting on layups on the offensive end. Stone tallied twelve of her game-high 13 points in the final quarter, most of which came on transition baskets after forced turnovers. With just under three minutes to play, the lead was cut to nine at 56-47.
“We were in full out organized chaos mode,” Agostini said. “We were gambling on passes, hoping we can get some steals to lead to some quick shots. We did that effectively, but ultimately it comes down to a couple possessions that just didn’t go our way.”
After cutting it to nine, the Bruins’ trio stepped up to finish the game. Nordquist went 4-for-4 from the line, while Thomas and Dreiling made key buckets to put the game just out of reach for the Lancers.
For East Union, the semifinal loss means their run at a section title ends, but the team will continue on in the NorCal playoffs next week.
“For as upset as I am with how we played and coached tonight, there are some positives there in the second half that we can take with us and put it into action against whoever we play on Tuesday,” Agostini said.
