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ORINDA — It’s one thing to circle a big game on the calendar. It’s another to take that anticipation and channel it into precision on the court.
The Miramonte girls managed both.
In a beautiful exhibition of basketball that would have had James Naismith standing and applauding, the Matadors stormed to a huge lead Saturday against Bishop O’Dowd and rolled to a 79-63 victory in the marquee matchup of the first Contra Costa Challenge.
Jordan Allred (28 points) and Erin Tarasow (27 points) were brilliant for the host school, but both credited teammates for executing at a high level.
“When we play as a team, we play our best,” Allred said. “I think we did that really well.”
O’Dowd beat Miramonte in a North Coast Section final and Northern California regional last season. It’s possible they will meet again in the NCS’s new Open Division playoffs in a couple of weeks.
But Miramonte needed this one, if for no other reason than to show that it can beat O’Dowd (14-6), the fourth-ranked team in the latest Bay Area Preps HQ Top 25. Miramonte (18-3) is No. 7.
“Any time you can beat a team like Bishop O’Dowd, it lets you know and your team know where you’re at,” Miramonte coach Kelly Sopak said. “For us, losing to them the last couple of years, it’s real big.
“But in the grand scheme of things, we have a lot more mountains to climb.”
Sopak noted that in the first half of the season, his team often found itself behind early.
That was not the case Saturday as the defense made stops and the Matadors drove for points in transition or worked the offense for open 3-pointers.
“We came out strong and we really focused on their rebounding aspect and really pushing the ball and getting them tired,” Tarasow said.
Kennedy Johnson, limited to 20 minutes as she comes back from an MCL injury, scored 17 points for O’Dowd.
For O’Dowd coach Malik McCord, it was a familiar conversation with his team after the game.
“We have to be more consistent,” he said. “We dig ourselves a hole and then we have to fight back.”
No. 3 Salesian 49, No. 2 Pinewood 39
LOS ALTOS HILLS — In a flashback to last year’s NorCal Open Division title game, the script flipped in favor of the Pride on the road.
“That really broke us last year because we really wanted to go to state,” Salesian senior Daylee Dunn said. “But we just came back and we were determined to win this game.”
Held under 40 points for the first time this season, the Panthers (16-2) struggled to find any rhythm on offense by shooting 23.5 percent from field, including a dismal 4-of-24 from beyond the arc.
“I don’t what we ended up from 3 tonight, but it’s just paltry,” Pinewood coach Doc Scheppler said. “It’s terrible, we’re better than that.”
The Pride (20-3), which was nearly flawless from the free-throw line — missing once in 20 tries — finished the first half on a 10-1 run and led by as much as 34-22 with 2:31 left in the third quarter of a physical contest.
“I think there was both ways a little pushing and shoving, (the refs) let it go,” Salesian coach Stephen Pezzola said. “And I thought our girls kept their composure. And we take the weight room pretty seriously, so I think we were able to hold our own and be strong with the ball.”
With the outcome slipping away, Pinewood point guard Annika Decker turned into a one-girl wrecking crew by scoring nine straight points to pull the Panthers within 34-31 entering the third quarter.
Decker, with a game-high 20 points, outscored her supporting cast.
“We’re searching for people to make plays for us, hit some shots,” Scheppler said. “It was a struggle for us to find answers, but I like the way we fought.”
Salesian got 12 points apiece from Dunn and 6-foot-1 post Silivia Fonongaloa, a sophomore, while Amira Brown and Alexsandra Alvarado both contributed eight points.
No. 9 St. Joseph Notre Dame 80, Clayton Valley Charter 45
SJND broke open the game in the second quarter and did not look back, cruising to victory at the Contra Costa Challenge in a matchup that ended with a running clock.
It was more competitive than the Pilots’ results in league play but still a dominant performance.
Six SJND players scored in double figures, led by Makena Mastora (18), Talana Lepolo (13) and Malia Mastora (12).
“It was not perfect, but the energy was where I needed it to be, the intensity was where I needed it to be,” said interim coach Brian Sato, who took over from Shawn Hipol last month after the coach resigned days after a 91-4 league win. “We made a lot of mistakes. Our awareness was a little bit off, but we made up for it with effort. I am proud of them.”
No. 11 American 53, Monte Vista 45
American ran its record to 20-1 as Natalie Kao scored 24 points — all on 3-pointers — to lead the Fremont school past Monte Vista at the Contra Costa Challenge. Dawson Bell had 12 points and 10 rebounds and Logan Bell had 12 rebounds and five points for American.
St. Patrick St. Vincent 54, No. 19 California 48
Tameiya Sadler scored 17 points and Kayla Revelo added 14 to lead the Bruins to a victory. Sadler used her quickness and ability to get to the basket to wreak havoc as SPSV erased a modest halftime deficit, scoring 21 points in the third quarter. Revelo did most of her damage from beyond the 3-point arc, including one from NBA range at the third-quarter buzzer to pad the Bruins’ lead to five. Audrey Moulton had 17 points and Kelly Tumlin chipped in with 12 — all on 3-pointers — for California.