Golden Valley girls’ rally falls short to Folsom in playoff basketball

As soon as the final buzzer sounded, Golden Valley senior Stephanie Moore instantly went from being a basketball star to a big sister.

Moore went to console her sister, Delia Moore, who was upset at herself. Not because she missed a potential tying shot in the final seconds, but because she missed a late free throw.

Stephanie put her arm around Delia as they walked to the locker room after an emotional 44-41 loss to Folsom in the Sac-Joaquin Section Division I quarterfinals on Thursday night.

“It’s tough knowing that’s the last game we’re going to play together,” Stephanie said. “Sometimes we get upset because we all think it’s our fault. We played our hearts out. Every one of us did. We left it all on the floor tonight.”

The fifth-seeded Cougars (24-5) battled back from a 13-point deficit in the second half. They twice led by two points in the final two minutes of the game until Folsom’s Sydney Larcocca scored on a layup to give the fourth-seeded Bulldogs a 42-41 lead with 50 seconds left.

After a Golden Valley shot-clock violation, Folsom freshman Hanna Beckman sank two free throws to give the Bulldogs a three-point lead with 4.6 seconds left.

Delia Moore had a good look at a three-pointer before the buzzer, but her shot glanced off the front of the rim and the Bulldogs escaped with a win.

“I practice those shots all the time and felt so comfortable taking that shot,” Moore said. “But I knew it was off as soon as it left my fingers.”

The Bulldogs (21-7) advance to Tuesday’s semifinals against No. 1 St. Mary’s (25-0) at the University of the Pacific. The Rams are ranked No. 1 in the nation and showed why with a 113-43 win over No. 8 Modesto Christian on Thursday.

Folsom coach Lynn Wolking was relieved to survive Golden Valley’s second-half charge.

Wolking’s Bulldogs looked in total control after limiting the Cougars to just 10 first-half points and forcing them into 17 turnovers. Folsom led 25-12 midway through the third quarter.

“Then No. 4 (Stephanie Moore) said, ‘Not so fast,’ ” Wolking said. “I only had one game film on (Golden Valley), and it was a game where they came back, and came back confidently, as they finished off the game.

“That’s how these games should be. In the first half, you’re wondering, ‘Why are either of these teams here?’ ”

Golden Valley made just 4 of 23 shots in the second half. Naomi Peterson kept the Cougars in the game, scoring eight of GV’s 10 points.

Folsom managed just 17 points in the first half, but McKenzie Forbes scored eight of her 10 in the second quarter to give the Bulldogs a seven-point lead at halftime.

“Teams up north play a little different than what we see in our area,” Golden Valley coach Matt Thissen said. “We saw the same thing in San Diego and when we played Heritage in the MLK Classic.

“When you don’t see it very often, it takes you time to adjust. In the second half, we were a different team.”

Stephanie Moore became more of a facilitator and attacked the paint, dishing to the Cougars’ post players for easy baskets.

She scored seven of her 11 points in the third quarter and assisted on four other baskets as Golden Valley used a 16-3 run to tie the score at 28-28 heading into the fourth quarter.

“At the beginning of the game, we were frazzled,” Stephanie Moore said. “Once we slowed it down and moved the ball better, it was our passing that got us in the game. We were dribbling too much against their press. Once we moved the ball, we got easy layups.”

The game went back and forth in the fourth with Stephanie Moore hitting two free throws to give GV a 39-37 lead with 1:54 left.

After Larocca (14 points) tied the score, the Cougars’ Abbee Croninger (nine points) scored on an offensive rebound to retake the lead at 41-39.

With the lead trimmed to 41-40, Delia Moore missed the first free throw of a one-and-one with 1:04 left. Larocca then drove down on the other end to give Folsom the lead at 42-41.

Beckman later added two free throws and finished 6 for 6 from the free-throw line in the fourth quarter.

“What a big moment for anybody ... being a freshman and knocking those clutch free throws down,” Wolking said.

Golden Valley’s bid to send the game into overtime came up short, but Thissen couldn’t have been prouder of his team’s effort.

“There was a lot of heart in those cardinal, black and gold uniforms tonight,” Thissen said. “The girls played hard. They didn’t quit. We would have liked to have more opportunities to shoot some free throws. It didn’t work that way. Sometimes that’s the way it happens in the playoffs.”

This story was originally published February 25, 2016 at 10:19 PM with the headline "Golden Valley girls’ rally falls short to Folsom in playoff basketball."