Sports
State basketball
anniversary of Pinewood’s first state title in 1999. “Somebody put a coat hanger in my mouth cause I’m gonna be more season. Mitty won a state smiling all day long,” said an obtitle in Craig’s freshman year. viously pleased c Scheppler after “She’s not a perimeter-oriented the game. “(The) goal is always to as Leeana,” said Scheppler, “but be the best you can . . . I couldn’t (an) inside presence for us at both be happier . . . it doesn’t get old.” ends. We’ll La Jol la have another Country Club way to get easy came into the baskets.” finale having That’s just not given up what Pinewood more than 35 opponents don’t points in any want to hear, game this seaespecially afson. Pinewood ter watching surpassed that the Panthers by halftime, put on a clinic setting the tone while routing for the lopsided La Jolla Coungame that made try Day, 60the school the 42, in the state Pinewood’s Gabi Bade (left) winningest Difinals at Sleep scored 13 points in the finals. vision V team Train Arena in in state history. Sacramento. Pinewood rolled to The Torreys were pressured a 26-point halftime lead while into 18 turnovers in the first half, finishing the season 30-3. For during which the Panthers led by the Torreys (20-12), it was their as many as 26 points. A 15-0 run fourth-worst loss of the season. in the second quarter gave PinThe crown came on the 15th ewood a 32-9 lead. Sisters Gabi V Ì Õi`ÊvÀ Ê«ÀiÛ ÕÃÊ«>}i®
Jack Cleasby PALO ALTO HIGH
The junior guard scored a team-high 17 points, tying the No. 2 all-time state playoff mark with 13 three throws, while leading the Panthers to their sixth CIF Division V state title, 60-42 over La Jolla Country Day.
The senior helped the Vikings win three baseball games as he had seven hits in 11 at-bats, scored five runs and drove in nine with four doubles and two home runs as the Vikings topped Menlo and swept league foe Los Altos.
and Leeana Bade combined for three 3-pointers during that run with Gabi tallying eight points, including back-to-back treys. Pinewood pushed its lead to 30 points on three occasions in the third quarter as it spread the court and took the ball to the basket more often than not as La Jolla had no answer defensively. “There’s not a whole lot of teams that can play with us if they go man,” said junior point guard Marissa Hing. Somewhat surprisingly, Pinewood made only four 3-pointers in the game — four of nine in the first half — tying its lowest production of the season. The Panthers came into the game as the No. 2 girls’ team in the state with 289 treys made, but didn’t need to go to its 3-point game as La Jolla allowed easy penetration with a perimeter defense that focused on stopping Pinewood’s 3-point shooting. “I couldn’t be more happy for our girls,” said Scheppler. “We work really hard in practice. It’s a great testament to our work ethic.” For the past 4-5 years, Pinewood has prepared for early morning championship games — the NorCal and state finals both
Honorable mention Gabi Bade* Pinewood basketball
Leeana Bade* Pinewood basketball
Iris Chin Gunn softball
Gillian Meeks Gunn track & field
Kathryn Mohr
Menlo lacrosse
Ricky Grau Sacred Heart Prep track & field
Colin Johnson Menlo lacrosse
Brian Kannappan Palo Alto baseball
Andrew Liang Palo Alto swimming * previous winner
Watch video interviews of the Athletes of the Week, go to PASportsOnline.com
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Pinewood coach Doc Scheppler gave his team a thumbs up.
“The Brookside game gave us the belief that we were really good,” Scheppler said. “We played our best half vs. a good team on both ends. We also knew we could exploit some weaknesses (in the state final). La Jolla Country Day wasn’t comfortable handling the ball, had some offensive players we could help off a lot. We identified defensive deficiencies in their half court and that allowed us to attack the basket or have kick-outs for 3s. The girls executed our distinctive style to perfection.”N
Marissa Hing (right) celebated with fellow junior Monique McDevitt.
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Gunn lacrosse
Menlo-Atherton baseball
Mason Brady
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Menlo-Atherton track & field
Victoria Nguyen
Erik Amundson
started at 10 a.m. — by practicing at that time on non-school days. “Knowing the early morning start time of D5 NorCal (last two years) and state championship games, we think it’s a visionary concept of where we want to be and, when we do get there, knowing we are prepared to be at our very best at that time in all facets.” Pinewood certainly looked ready to play at 10 a.m. last Friday while La Jolla Country Day did not. The game, effectively, was over by halftime. Hing led Pinewood with 17 points. She made 13 of 16 from the free-throw line, equaling the No. 2 mark in state playoff history for free throws made — sharing the mark with Candice Wiggins, who played at La Jolla Country Day before earning All-American honors at Stanford. The Bade sisters evenly split 26 points, with Leeana grabbing eight rebounds, and sophomore Chloe Eackles tallied 10 points. Freshman Akayla Hackson contributed seven points in her first state finale. La Jolla’s standout sophomore Mai-loni Henson, who came in averaging 15.2 points a game, had no field goals in the first half while scoring just three points. She finished with 12 plus a gamehigh 16 rebounds. Sophomore Mariana Ecija led the Torreys with 18 points. La Jolla turned the ball over 26 times to just 11 for Pinewood, which more than made up for last year’s loss in the state title game. The Panthers now have won six times in eight appearances in the state finals. Their 6-2 record is tied for No. 3 all-time in girls’ state history with Long Beach Poly (6-1) and Bishop Montgomery-Torrance (6-1). They trail only Brea Olinda (9-2) and St. Mary’sStockton (7-2) for most titles. Scheppler believes his team’s 61-38 victory over Brookside Christian in the NorCal finals really set the stage for another state championship.
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Marissa Hing PINEWOOD SCHOOL
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The Pinewood girls captured the sixth state basketball championship in program history by defeating La Jolla Country Day, 60-42, last Friday in the Division V finals at Sleep Train Arena in Sacramento.
Senior Leeana Bade scored 13 points in her final game.