Atwater High girls open NorCal basketball playoffs with win, ready to play underdog role
Even after bringing the first blue section banner back to town for the first time in 37 years, the Atwater High girls basketball team found a bit of motivation headed into the state playoffs.
The Falcons couldn’t help but feel slighted when the CIF State Office released the NorCal playoff matchups and saw they were give the No. 7 seed in Division II.
In Atwater’s eyes, it was almost as if winning the Sac-Joaquin Section Division II championship and winning four section playoff games by an average of more than 25 points was met by a yawn from the state seeding committee.
“It’s like no matter what we do, Atwater is going to get overlooked every time,” said Falcons senior Karissa Hukill. “It’s not the first time, it’s frustrating, but we love proving people wrong.”
The extra motivation didn’t hurt as the Falcons continued their dream season with a 58-39 victory over No. 10 Valley Christian of San Jose in the first round of the NorCal Division II playoffs in front of a large crowd at Falcon Arena on Tuesday night.
Atwater (28-5) advances to the NorCal quarterfinals on Thursday night against No. 2 Sierra Pacific in Hanford at 7 p.m. The Golden Bears (24-8) defeated No. 9 Grant 66-61 on Tuesday night.
The challenge for the Falcons in the first state playoff contest was being able to turn the page after winning the section title.
It was the program’s first section championship since 1988. The team was given a police escort out of town on their way to the game. It was such an accomplishment that deserved to be celebrated.
Hukill said it was like they were in a movie when they returned as champs to school on Friday.
Somehow the Falcons had to get the blood flowing again and ramp up the energy to begin another playoff tournament.
“I think mentally we were there, but physically we were a little drained,” said Atwater coach JR Davis.
The Falcons scored the first 10 points of the game against Valley Christian and only let the lead slip briefly to three points in the second quarter.
Atwater’s 6-foot-4 center Cami Gibson impacted the game throughout, scoring 12 points to go along with eight rebounds and six blocks.
Hukill added 11 points and fellow seniors Vianey Hernandez and Jolie Hart hit some key shots that helped the Falcons build their early lead in the first half.
Now the Falcons will hit the road to try to keep their season and state title hopes alive.
“Our mindset is we’re still the underdogs,” Hukill said. “They gave us the seven seed, even after we won the section title. We want to show them what’s up.”
Boys Basketball
Carlmont 60, El Capitan 49 — The No. 12 seeded Gauchos (20-12) saw their season end with a loss in the first round of the NorCal Division III playoffs.
Franklin Kuo and Jeremiah Phillips led the way for No. 5 Carlmont with 21 points each.
Senior Diego Ultreras led El Capitan with 16 points.
The Gauchos led 34-32 at the half and trailed 46-45 entering the fourth quarter before the Scots pulled away.
