Los Banos girls storm back late to defeat Pacheco, clinch third consecutive WAC title
As if flipping on a switch, the Los Banos High girls basketball team seized control of the game against crosstown rivals Pacheco on Tuesday night.
The switch came in the form of a full-court press that enabled the Tigers to quickly erase a nine-point deficit in the final quarter to defeat the Panthers 47-38 to clinch their third consecutive Western Athletic Conference championship.
Los Banos outscored Pacheco 21 to 3 in the fourth quarter with the help of a 19-0 run to start the quarter to wrap up the championship and the Tigers’ fourth title in the last five years.
“I was waiting until the fourth quarter to press,” said Tigers coach Lorinda Sanchez, whose team won their eighth consecutive game to improve to 21-4 overall and 12-1 in the WAC. “I knew if we sped up the pace they would start to make mistakes and we were get some steals, turnovers and easy baskets.”
Sanchez’s daughter Anissa Sanchez spearheaded the Tigers’ comeback, scoring 14 of her game-high 19 points in the fourth quarter. Sanchez struggled from the perimeter in the first half. The fourth-year starter caught fire in the fourth quarter, making three 3-pointers.
“I just had to get out of my head,” Anissa said. “Once I hit one shot my confidence went up. Then I started hitting a couple more.”
Los Banos sophomore guard America Ordunez played strong throughout the game and played a big part in the full-court press. Ordunez finished with 13 points. Emely Guzman added eight points for Los Banos.
Pacheco came close to upsetting the Tigers after losing by 29 points in the first game against Los Banos on January 18. Kameryn Cortinas led Pacheco with 10 points and Abi Pikas scored nine points with three 3-pointers.
“I’m proud of the effort and fight we gave,” said Pacheco coach Charlie Pikas, whose team dropped to 12-11 overall and 5-8 in the WAC. “Last game we lost by (29) and tonight we had the lead after three quarters. We were doing a lot of good stuff defensively. We struggled in the fourth quarter once they started to press. They turned it around.”
“When Anissa is hitting shots from the logo you can’t do anything about that,” Pikas added.
The Tigers are hoping their hard work will result in their first home playoff game next week.
It’s been an impressive run for the Tigers, who have won 19 of their last 20 WAC games. Los Banos is 49-9 in the WAC in the last five years.
“The championship is something we’ve been working toward since the beginning of the season,” Anissa said. “To finally get it means everything. It’s what we wanted. I didn’t know that Los Banos has never hosted a playoff game. That’s bigger than our team. That’s amazing if we get to do that.”
Lorinda Sanchez says it’s been a fun ride with this group.
“We were talking about winning the third one in a row in the locker room,” Lorinda Sanchez said. “This is more than a team. This is a family. They’ve worked hard all season. It’s been a great team to coach.”
