The runner-up trophy was just a few feet from Cheli as she spoke. For the people returning, we want to come back.” So to fall short is not the best feeling. “I’m upset, obviously,” said Cheli, a junior who missed much of the regular season with a foot injury. WCAL champs: Valley Christian clinches regular-season title, one win from perfection Six years ago in the Open final, Mitty went ice cold after halftime and lost to Clovis West 44-40.Īnd just as they were against Clovis West, the Monarchs were so close to the championship they practically left fingerprints on the trophy. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group)Ĭheli had 24 points, six rebounds, five assists and four steals and freshman McKenna Woliczko finished with 18 points and 10 rebounds to lead Mitty.Ī year ago, the Monarchs were no match for Sierra Canyon in the state final, losing 85-61. Archbishop Mitty’s McKenna Woliczko (20) consoles teammate Morgan Cheli (33) after the loss Saturday. “I was like, ‘Get it,’ and I put it up,” she said. Sanders, who was under the basket, said she watched the ball spin around the rim the entire time. She just went and got it and I said, ‘She got the rebound.’ Then it went up and I said, ‘Wow.’ “Honestly, I was like, I can’t believe this ball is about to come out,” Delus said. Somehow, it didn’t go in, to the disbelief of her coach. The 6-1 junior, who was at Golden 1 last season when her brother won the Division I state championship with Damien-La Verne, went around a screen and took the shot. The 5-5 sophomore point guard, who scored 14 points, worked the clock from the top of the arc before giving the ball back to Smith on the right wing. With 19.4 seconds left, the Southern California school inbounded the ball to Smith, who then passed to Morris. The officials ruled a jump ball, the possession arrow favoring Etiwanda. Mitty played strong defense, Etiwanda missed a shot and both teams scrambled for the rebound near the free-throw line.
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Mitty star Morgan Cheli, who rolled an ankle with 4:18 left, returned less than two minutes later and gave her team its final lead, 67-65, when she sank a pair of free throws with 58.5 seconds on the clock.Įtiwanda evened the score on two foul shots by Aliyahna Morris with 41.8 seconds left and got a turnover - the last of 21 for Mitty in the game - to set up the climactic finish. We prevailed, and it’s a testament to all the hard work these girls have put in for the last 8 1/2 months.” It was just whoever wanted it at the end. Just two teams that battled for all 32 minutes. “Just the resiliency of our girls, to fight. “Tonight’s game, wow,” Etiwanda coach Stan Delus said. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group) Etiwanda’s Kennedy Smith, left, hugs teammate Jada Sanders after Sanders made the game-winning basket Saturday to beat Mitty in the Open Division state championship game.
Arynn Finley’s three-point play - basket, foul, free throw - tied the game 64-64 with 1:25 left. Smith, who led Etiwanda with 30 points, 13 rebounds and six steals, then scored to make it 64-61. The Inland Empire team that dethroned defending Open Division state champion Sierra Canyon in the Southern California regional final on Tuesday cut the deficit to 64-59 on a basket by Sanders, her first two points of the game. Mitty (28-3) led by seven points with 2 1/2 minutes to go, a cushion that seemed safe enough, but Etiwanda (32-3) did what it has done many times against elite competition: But there’s only one heartbreaking piece to this and that’s saying goodbye to these guys.” I am disappointed because I think it was within our grasp. What’s heartbreaking to me is I don’t get to coach these seniors. “I have seen a lot of games end in ways that are heartbreaking. “Basketball’s a funny game that way,” said Phillips, in her 30th season at Mitty. But shocking because of how jaw-dropping the ending turned out to be and that the San Jose school finished with a 44-31 advantage in rebounds. Shocking not because Mitty was the favorite. Etiwanda celebrates after defeating Archbishop Mitty for the CIF Open Division championship at the Golden 1 Center on Saturday. And when it did, Etiwanda had captured its first state championship at any level while Mitty suffered maybe the most shocking of its three Open title game defeats since the California Interscholastic Federation added the best-of-the-best category in 2013.
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