Monte Vista made some big shots, stymied a Heritage team which fell just shy in its first finals appearance
IN ONED By clay kallam | Contributor Most coaches are more than willing to take full credit for strategic adjustments during a game — but Monte Vista High’s Ron Hirschman has been around too long to need to embellish his achievements. After a 50-42 win over Heritage that gave the Mustangs their second North Coast Section Division I championship, Hirschman just told the truth. “We weren’t ready for a zone at all,” he said. “Heritage had played man-to-man all year.” But the Patriots, wary of foul trouble for senior post Sabrina Engelstad, settled back into a 2-3 zone and dared Monte Vista to make outside shots. Then again, the Mustangs played a 2-3 zone themselves, so they’ve been attacking one in practice — and after trailing through the first two-and-a-half quarters, they took over the game. One key, even when Monte Vista trailed, was a string of quarter-ending baskets. The Mustangs wound up with the ball late in each of the first three quarters, and in each case scored just before the buzzer sounded. “Of course they were set plays,” said Hirschman – and then laughed. “Basically it was just spread the floor, and we made the shots.” Two were by junior Lily Wissinger, who finished with 12 points — and the last, a 3-pointer by senior point guard Angela Rigo with three seconds left in the third quarter, was a dagger. That put Monte Vista up by seven, 33-26, and ended an 18-3 Mustang run that pretty much decided the game. That said, Heritage didn’t go quietly, but Rigo continued to make big shots and good decisions to keep the Patriots at bay. “My confidence has been built up since I was a sophomore,” she said. “We’ve been in so many pressure situations.” Rigo finished with 15 points, tied for team high with sophomore Amanda Daily— and one of Monte Vista’s strengths is its depth and versatility. “We have a lot of good players,” said Wissinger, who didn’t start, and doesn’t mind coming off the bench. “It really doesn’t matter at all.” Hirschman’s coaching does matter, despite his deflecting credit after the game. Many coaches will rotate offensive-minded players with defensive-minded players whenever possible in the fourth quarter, but Hirschman did it the whole game. Almost every time a whistle blew, Monte Vista subs would stream in and out as Hirschman tried to maximize his team’s talents. It worked very well, as the Mustangs held Heritage’s top two players (Engelstad and Erin Asher) to just nine points between them, and put up 50 on their end thanks to contributions from Wissinger and Daily, who were often replaced by Rachel Tagle and Jenn Casper.
ncs div. 1 girls championship
Photos by Ali Thanawalla
Monte Vista celebrates its NCS title. ABOVE: Heritage guard Erin Asher drives to the hoop.
“Our No. 1 goal this season was to put up a banner in the gym,” said Rigo, “and we did that.” Next up is the NorCal championship, and maybe even a rematch with Heritage — but regardless of what happens there, the 2013 NCS Div. I championship, and its banner, belongs to Monte Vista. ■●■ Most good high school basketball teams make around twothirds of their free throws — and the Heritage girls are a good high school basketball team. In the NCS Div. I championship, though, the Patriots made only 33 percent of their free throws, and were just three of 13 midway through the third quarter. (Math majors will already have determined that’s a 23.1 percent success rate, which can usually be exceeded by a decent sixth grade CYO team.) At the time Heritage had missed 10 free throws, the
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Patriots were actually ahead by two points — but karma was just about to be unleashed. From that point on, even though Heritage started to knock down some free throws, Monte Vista outscored the Patriots 28-18 and wound up winning by eight. If Heritage had made eight of 13 instead of three of 13 with 3:40 left in the third quarter, the Patriots would have been ahead by seven; if they made 14 of 21 for the game instead of seven of 21, they wouldn’t have been fouling at game’s end and giving Monte Vista extra points. Of course, there’s more to the Heritage loss than just missed free throws. Engelstad, their star senior center, was held to just five points by a sticky Monte Vista zone; and star junior guard, Asher, scored just four; and the Patriots gave up a big basket in the waning seconds of each of the first three quarters. Still, the season is not over, and there’s plenty of time for redemption. In fact, Heritage may even get another shot at Monte Vista in the NorCal Div. I playoffs, which would mark the fourth time the two teams have played this season. So far, the Mustangs have a 2-1 edge, with a 44-43 win back on Nov. 30 and the more important one March 1. And don’t expect Heritage coach Dan Swan to panic. Even though it’s only his second year in Brentwood, he’s been around. He spent seven years coaching freshmen and junior varsity boys at Las Lomas and Northgate, and another 10 years as the head boys’ coach for Northgate, taking the Broncos to four straight NCS finals (winning two). He stepped away in 2007, though. “It was getting to be a bit much with the traveling,” he said, as he teaches in Antioch and it was a 45-minute drive to the Northgate campus in Walnut Creek. He also wanted to spend more time with his own children, and he coached them in Antioch youth leagues. “I had just finished coaching my daughter in eighth grade,” he said, “and I thought I was done.” But then he got a phone call from Heritage athletic director Pat Cruickshank. “Cruickshank said ‘I have a job for you’,” said Swan, who had noticed the talent assembled at Heritage. “I said to people ‘This is a gold mine of a job for somebody’ – never thinking it would be me.” As it turned out, it was Swan, and in his two years, he was 49-11 through the NCS championship game. Obviously he made the transition from boys to girls smoothly, but he did make some adjustments. “It’s a little more delicate,” he said, “in how to communicate, how to come across, but I am still very much a motivator who will push a player to get the most out of her.” And even though he watched a lot of free throws bounce off the rim against Monte Vista, he’s still relishing the ride. “It’s been better than I ever expected,” he said. “This is a special group.” ✪
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March 7, 2013
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