UPPER LAKE — Upper Lake’s 14-2 run to end the first half tore the heart out of Head-Royce on Friday night as the Cougars advanced to the semifinal round of the North Coast Section Division 5 girls basketball playoffs with an as-thorough-as-they-come 56-38 beating of the Jayhawks at Upper Lake High School.
And it gets even better for the fourth-seeded Cougars (27-1), who will host that semifinal game Tuesday at 7 p.m. after No. 8 seed Mount Diablo upset No. 1 Berean Christian 47-44 on Friday night in Walnut Creek. Tuesday’s winner moves on to the Division 5 championship either Feb. 24 or Feb. 25 at a site to be determined. No. 2 seed University and No. 3 San Domenico meet in the other semifinal Tuesday.
Upper Lake’s full-court defensive pressure simply overwhelmed Head-Royce (17-5), forcing Jayhawks turnovers all night long. The Cougars also dominated on the offensive boards by a margin of nearly four to one. Once Upper Lake figured out that Jayhawks sophomore center Morgan Ross was the Oakland team’s only real scoring threat — and it didn’t take long since Ross scored all 12 of her team’s points in the first quarter — the Cougars neutralized her by having their best defensive player, senior guard Maddy Young, front Ross the remainder of the game.
At the other end of the floor, Ross had to try and defend Upper Lake senior center Taylar Minnis, who won the battle more times than not. Ross got into early foul trouble and ended up sitting out huge chunks of the game, including parts of the second quarter and nearly all of the third quarter. When she was off the floor the Jayhawks could barely function and the Cougars took full advantage.
“The tougher the assignment, the happier she is,” Upper Lake co-head coach Annie Pivniska-Petrie said of the ballhawking Young when playing defense. Added co-head coach Raelene Cromwell, “Getting her (Ross) into foul trouble was really good for us.”
Young made it to the gym just minutes before the start of the game after participating in the North Coast Section Girls Wrestling Championships earlier in the day at Albany High School where she won both of her matches by pin in the 131-pound weight class. She’ll return to Albany on Saturday looking to earn a berth in the CIF State Championships beginning next Thursday in Bakersfield.
Minnis (20 points) was pretty much unstoppable down low.
“All the girls were looking for her,” Cromwell said of Minnis. “Dumping into T is our bread and butter.”
With Ross scoring inside and out — she hit a 3-pointer with 6:10 left in the first quarter to tie the game at 7-7 and then added a free throw a short time later to give the Jayhawks their one and only lead of the night at 8-7 — Upper Lake made its defensive adjustment with Young following Ross everywhere she went on the court. Ross didn’t score again until early in the third quarter.
The Cougars pushed their way out to a 16-12 lead by quarter’s end, with reserves Jayme Zimmerschied and Jaydyn Poe scoring back-to-back baskets to end the period.
Head-Royce managed to stay close the first half of the second quarter and was trailing 20-18 with just under four minutes left in the half.
And that’s when the game took a decisive turn.
Zimmerschied (10 points), who came off the bench Tuesday night to score 16 points, including four 3-pointers, in a 47-27 first-round win over The Bay School, buried a 3-pointer from the wing to make it 23-15. After a Head-Royce turnover, Minnis’ putback basket pushed the lead to 25-18. Minnis scored again on the Cougars’ next offensive possession, grabbing an offensive rebound and hitting a short shot.
Another Head-Royce turnover caused by Upper Lake’s pressure led to a three-shot series by the Cougars capped by a Zimmerschied bucket with 1:50 to go.
Minnis bullied her way inside again moments later for another basket as the Cougars went up 31-18. Head-Royce finally scored with 16 seconds left to snap Upper Lake’s 11-0 run, but with time running out in the half Zimmerschied sank a baseline 3-pointer to make it 34-20.
The two teams traded baskets to start the second half, but what followed proved to be the death knell for the Jayhawks. Already playing with three fouls, Ross picked up her fourth at the 6:02 mark while trying to defend Minnis, who drew a shooting foul and hit both free throws for a 38-22 Upper Lake lead.
Even with Upper Lake taking the opportunity to give its starters a breather with Ross off the court, the Cougars continued to pull away, getting baskets from Minnis’ replacement — sister Kali Minnis — and freshman Ashlyn Wurm. When start Kat Geary-Lopez scored, was fouled and added the free throw to make it 45-26 with 2:28 left in the quarter, the Cougars were well on their way to Tuesday’s semifinals.
A flustered Head-Royce squad was never closer than 17 points in the fourth quarter as the Cougars finished strong, never coming out of their full-court pressure.
“That’s the first game we’ve pressed the entire game,” Pivniska-Petrie said. “I’m proud of our girls. Every girl that came in understood her job and did it.”
Upper Lake’s deep bench made that possible as the Cougars were able to rotate players at will while also spelling their starters. The Jayhawks, who suited up only eight, never got much of a break. Upper Lake’s defense made sure of that.
Madison Noble contributed nine points and some solid work on the boards for the Cougars. Lopez-Geary finished with eight points to round out a balanced attack.
Ross ended up with 20 points for Head-Royce (17-5) and Leila Haile had eight.
Game notes: Upper Lake’s 27th win is the second most in school history, tying the 1992-93 squad that Pivniska-Petrie played on her junior year. Pivniska-Petrie’s senior team went 29-1 … Mount Diablo had lost to No. 1 seed Berean Christian twice earlier this season but got even on Friday night, much to the delight of the Cougars, who won’t have to make the long trip to Walnut Creek … Regardless of what happens Tuesday night or beyond, the Cougars are likely headed to the NorCal playoffs later this month. They also qualified for the NorCals three years and lost in the first round.
