As the clock ticked down at the Santa Clara University arena on March 5, the 10 girls on the bench burst onto the court to celebrate something the school’s basketball program had not done before: Win a Division III CCS basketball championship.
They defeated South San Francisco 55-46 in the championship game.
“I’m just so happy for them. It’s something you dream about and I’m so happy they’ve been able to accomplish this,” head coach Mike Davey said. “I told them before they left at the end of the year, they’d be able to point to the trophy case and say, ‘We were the ones that did that.’ Nobody can ever take that away from them now.”
The Falcons ended the first half of the CCS Championship trailing South San Francisco 29-26, but the girls soon bounced back by holding the Warriors to only five points in the third quarter. Their change to a box-and-one defense allowed the girls to contain the Warriors’ drives and shots.
“What really changed in the second half was our mentality because we were not panicking as much and made less silly mistakes,” said senior guard Nicole Prowse. “We told each other that we were not out of this game and made sure their scoring and crowd did not get into our heads.”
The team was led in scoring by junior guard Aryana Goodarzi, who had 15 points, and junior guard Rachel Davey, who notched 13 points, six rebounds, six assists, four steals and two blocked shots. Senior post Eleni Spirakis had 12 points, 12 rebounds and six blocked shots, while senior Erin Norris had eight points, six rebounds and four steals.
“I think we transitioned really well to get the ball down the court,” Rachel Davey said. “In addition, Prowse played really great defense on their best player, which shut them down.”
Five days later the Falcons hosted their first NorCal playoff game in front of a large, enthusiastic pro-Falcon crowd. The contest proved to be a tough one, ending in a 47-39 loss to a strong Inderkum High School team from the Sacramento area. Because key players Spirakis and Norris fouled out in the beginning of the third and fourth quarter, the girls had trouble scoring but managed to stay close behind the Tigers by making their free throws.
“We played really well, but it just didn’t work out,” said senior post Savannah Green. “We played our hearts out and our free throws definitely helped us out and kept us close with the Tigers.”
Following their loss in NorCals, the girls concluded their season with a CCS Championship trophy and a third-place finish in the difficult De Anza League with an overall record of 18-9.
“There was definitely some tough competition in league, but we did really well overall,” Goodarzi said. “Probably our most memorable game was defeating our long time rival, Palo Alto.”
The girls’ resounding 52-20 win in the semifinals of CCS against Hillsdale on March 2 marked the first time a Saratoga basketball team advanced to the CCS finals.
The team was able to achieve the blowout victory by minimizing the number of 3-pointers the Knights took and by harassing them with a full-court press. Norris had five steals and six deflections in the game, effectively stifling the Knights’ transition game.
“We were really determined to win that game so that we could move on to the finals and play at Santa Clara University,” Goodarzi said. “Although we started off a bit slow, we soon got into our rhythm and shut them down.”
Earlier, in the CCS quarterfinals on Feb. 27, the team won 47-35 against Notre-Dame San Jose. Having been picked at the No. 1 seed in Division III of CCS, the Falcons were able to receive two byes before playing in the quarterfinals of CCS against Notre Dame, allowing the team to rest and mentally prepare for the challenges ahead.
“Instead of playing two games before, we had an entire week to prepare for CCS and focus on our skills,” Norris said. “The bracket was also set up nicely because we weren’t playing the toughest teams, and it allowed us to focus more on each game, which ultimately led us to the finals.”
The Falcons’ accomplishments were the result of their individual improvement during the games, Coach Davey said.
“You can only control your attitude, effort and focus,” he said. “I think focusing on things you can control are the goals rather than we win league, let’s win state and other things you can’t control.”
Players wore their CCS championship medals to school on the Monday after their Saturday victory, and they said they’ll never forget this championship season.
“I’m so proud of every single one of my teammates this basketball season,” Spirakis said. “We grew so much as a team and it is amazing to say that we made history together. I will miss playing with my team so much.”