Palisades players stand side by side during introductions Saturday, March 14 on the floor at Golden 1 Center for Division IV State Finals.
Photo: ROCKY MONTZ
By STEVE GALLUZZO
CTN Contributor
The tears flowed for Palisades High girls basketball players after the Division IV state championship game Saturday morning at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, but the Dolphins should hold their heads high after going further than anyone could have expected.
Palisades played Yuba City Faith Christian tough in the first half, but could not get enough shots to go down over the last 16 minutes of a 51-37 loss that left the Dolphins drained emotionally and physically.
“This group didn’t make any excuses,” first-year coach LeBre Merritt said in the postgame press conference when asked about having to play and practice off campus for the first two months of the season. “They still showed up at a middle school gym at 6 p.m., sometimes 6:30, and practiced until 9 o’clock on a school night. It was tough on them, it was tough on the parents, so I appreciate everybody putting forth the extra effort to give us an opportunity to succeed. This group is going to play hard, play smart and play together.”
Merritt, who knows what it is like to don the Palisades jersey having captained the boys’ 2008-09 team then coached by James Paleno, reminded the assembled media that six years prior the girls earned their way to the state title game only to have their hopes dashed.
“As far as our community, being able to make the championship is a big accomplishment,” he said. “A lot of alumni reached out and were very proud of us for making it this far. Before COVID-19 we punched our ticket to come here but we weren’t able to play the game because state finals got canceled.”
More recently, Palisades reached the Division III regional semifinals last season (their last under coach Adam Levine), losing by a basket to Chula Vista Mater Dei.
“We wanted to bring it [the title] home,” said Merritt, whose team was dropped four divisions for state after losing to Birmingham in the first round of the City Open Division playoffs. “I was focused on trying to compete for City, but I’m proud of this group for pushing through and during the state run we learned from those past losses and today we couldn’t put it all together one more time.”
Playing in the program’s second state final (the first was a 49-48 loss to Archbishop Mitty in Division I in 1999), the Dolphins held their own early on against the Sac-Joaquin Section Division V champions, who got bumped up one division for the state tournament.
Long Beach State-bound senior Lauren Harris netted five of the Lions’ first seven points but Palisades pulled even, 8-8, and took a brief lead before Harris, the national record-holder in career 3-pointers, made a half-court shot at the buzzer to put Faith Christian up 13-11 after one quarter.
Faith Christian has a total enrollment of around 250 students, but has become a small-school giant, capturing three section crowns over the last four seasons. Harris played all 32 minutes in the final game of her remarkable prep journey, making 10 of 22 shots to finish with a game-high 26 points, 16 rebounds, five assists, three blocks and two steals. She was fouled seven times and did not commit one herself. She had three 3-pointers, capping her career total at 742 and her 3,578 career points are third all-time in state history.
“Hats off to Faith Christian,” Merritt said on the bus ride home a few hours later. “I still feel like we beat ourselves. The girls followed the game plan and made it tough for No. 5 (Harris) to get off clean looks. She shot 22 times to get 26 points and went 3-for-11 from the 3-point line—I can live with that.”
The heavily-favored Lions (34-1) led 29-26 at halftime. Harris had 13 points and nine rebounds. Keeping Palisades close with 12 points and two rebounds was senior point guard and captain Elly Tierney. Merritt had his team right where he wanted it.
“At halftime, I just told the team to continue to communicate on the ball screens involving No. 5 and keep touching the paint on offense,” he said.
Unfortunately, Palisades would get no closer. The Dolphins went ice cold in the third quarter, making only one of 16 shots and thus found themselves down by eight entering the final eight minutes. They did not do much better in the fourth quarter, converting three of 14 shots.
The Lions, meanwhile, got more accurate as the game wore on. They closed the third quarter on a 6-0 run and scored the first five points of the fourth quarter to stretch their lead to 16 points with 3:31 left.
Presley Berry had 18 points, four assists and a steal while Mia Bryan added seven points, three rebounds, two assists and three steals for Faith Christian. Hannah Hessong had six rebounds but Harris, Berry and Bryan were the only three Lions who even attempted shots.
“Offensively, we went back to old bad habits, not finishing at the rim,” Merritt said. “Of course, we could’ve made a few more of the open threes we took, but it came down to the missed layups. We had too many empty possessions.”
Like Harris, Tierney played every minute, finishing with 15 points, six rebounds, one assist and one steal. Junior forward Riley Oku added eight points, seven rebounds, two assists and one takeaway in 27 of action for the Dolphins (16-14). Ayla Teegardin made a two-point shot and a free throw, Olivia Lewis, Sumaya Levy and Willow Cohen each hit a 3-pointer and Angela Locke had two points, six rebounds and an assist.
Miley Kinney proved to be a presence in the post, contributing five rebounds, four assists, a steal and a block in 19 minutes. Ninth-grader Taya Jones pulled down two offensive rebounds.
“We had great energy and effort defensively,” Merritt said. “We just couldn’t capitalize on the other end.”
Olivia Lewis and the Dolphins were held to 11 points in the second half of the State Final.
Photo: STEVE GALLUZZO
Teegardin lost her home in the Palisades Fire, but that traumatic experience taught her a valuable life lesson: never lose hope.
“My house burned down that night, and I was displaced in a hotel for three months,” the senior guard said in the media room after getting her runner-up medal. “I struggled with a lot of anxiety, but basketball was also the only thing that kept my life stable and real. I mean, the only thing that didn’t change was my team. It helped being with them. They were my support system throughout this whole thing.”
Teegardin, whose brother Jett played football in the fall and is a pitcher on the Dolphins’ varsity baseball team, played nearly 27 minutes and despite her shooting difficulties (1-for-9) she had six rebounds, two assists and one steal.
“I’m really appreciative of my team and how hard we worked to get here,” Teegardin added, trying to keep from crying. “Even though the outcome wasn’t what we wanted the season itself gave me all the joy and more I could get from winning or losing.”
Palisades won the rebounding battle 43-33 but finished a dismal 15-of-63 from the field (23.8 percent), 4-of-23 from beyond the arc (17.4 percent) and 3-of-6 at the foul line. Faith Christian, by contrast, was 19-of-43 (44.2 percent) from the field and 10-of-16 on free throws.
Saturday’s result did not diminish an impressive run to the finals for the Dolphins, who were seeded fifth in the 16-team regional bracket and knocked off 12th-seeded La Palma Kennedy, No.13 Riverside Hillcrest, No. 1 Huntington Beach Marina and then No. 2 Santa Ana Godinez Fundamental Fundamental on their way to Sacramento.
“They were exactly what I expected,” Merritt said of Faith Christian, which ended the season on a 25-game winning streak since a two-point loss to Chico, the Northern Section Division III champion. “It’s just that I anticipated us taking advantage of our depth and scoring opportunities. You’ll never win any game with the amount of missed layups and open 3-pointers we had today.”
Coach LeBre Merritt and his players with their runner-up medals at the CIF State Championships.
Photo: ROCKY MONTZ
CIF GIRLS DIVISION IV STATE CHAMPIONSHIP
Golden 1 Center, Sacramento
Team 1 2 3 4 Final
Palisades 11 15 3 8 37
F Christian 13 16 9 13 51
Individual Scoring
P: Elly Tierney 15; Riley Oku 8; Ayla Teegardin 3; Olivia Lewis
3; Sumaya Levy 3; Willow Cohen 3, Angela Locke 2.
FC: Lauren Harris 26; Presley Berry 18; Mia Bryan 7.
Records: Palisades 16-14; Faith Christian 34-1.
Game Duration: 1 hour, 26 minutes.