‘This was eye-opening for us.’ Atwater’s playoff run ends with semifinal loss to Vanden
One team taking the floor in Monday’s Sac-Joaquin Section Division II semifinal game in Vanden has hung section championship banners in their gym the last two years.
The other Atwater was making its first semifinal appearance 36 years since last winning a section championship in 1988.
The Falcons got a first-hand look what it takes to compete against a perennial section power in the Vikings.
Vanden’s all-out, full-court pressure and up-tempo style proved a bit too much as the No. 2 seeded Vikings (24-7) defeated No. 6 Atwater (24-7) 67-54 to punch their ticket to the Golden 1 Center on Wednesday in Sacramento against No. 1 seed Whitney at 2 p.m.
“(Vanden) is super athletic, they have length and they have speed,” said Atwater coach JR Davis. “Speed usually gives us problems. They had a lot of height and that gave us problems.”
The Falcons season isn’t over yet. By reaching the semifinals Atwater qualified for the NorCal Regionals next week. The matchups will be announced on Sunday.
The Falcons came out and matched the Vikings step for step early, taking a 19-17 lead after the first quarter.
Atwater juniors Karissa Hukill and Cami Gibson combined for 11-first quarter points as the Falcons attacked the Vikings press by taking the ball to the basket.
The Falcons had the large Atwater crowd that made the two-hour drive from Merced County on its feet. The school had booked a rooter bus for the students who wanted to attend the game despite being off from school for a holiday.
“Our fans made it feel like a home game,” Davis said.
“It does mean a lot to us,” said Falcons guard Jolie Hart. “To know we have the support from people who drove two hours to come watch us player or other people watching the game online in different states. We love the support.”
The Falcons struggled to keep pace in the second quarter as the offense went over 5 minutes without scoring near the end of the first half.
Natalia Melgoza scored to pull the Falcons with 30-28 with 5:20 left in the second quarter.
Atwater didn’t score again until Hukill scored on a layup with 17 seconds left in the half to pull the Falcons within 36-30. The Vikings took a 38-30 lead into the half.
“After they blocked a couple shots our guards were kind of afraid and stopped going to the basket hard like we usually do,” Davis said.
Gibson, who is listed as 6-foot-4, is the Falcons lone post player and she had to battle inside against a trio of Vanden bigs in La’Miracle Lebon (6-1), Kimora Akira Snell (6-3) and Calonni Holloway (5-9).
Lebon led the Vikings with 21 points. Holloway added 13 points.
Vanden also outscored Atwater 21-0 behind the three-point line, including three 3-pointers from Jaylen Kuehnel, who finished with 13 points.
The Vikings opened the second half with an 8-2 run and eventually stretched the lead to 57-37 by the end of the third quarter.
The Falcons struggled converting free throws. Atwater also struggled to get open shot against the Vikings pressure and when the Falcons did get to the basket, they struggled finishing.
Hukill led the Falcons with 14 points. Hart added 13 points and Gibson scored 12.
With a roster that includes only two seniors, the Falcons feel they can learn from the experience for another playoff run next year.
“This will definitely help us,” Hart said. “We can see where we need to improve with our press and on defense. We can see where we need to get better at for next year. This was eye-opening for us.”
