OUT OF THE WILDERNESS -- Coach Eduardo "Presi" de la Riva leads victory lap with International's first basketball champions. His T-shirt reads, "For you, Daddy!"
Jonatan Muñoz, International
International 16, Cooperative 14
Griffins outlast Jaguars in see-saw battle
The International girls junior varsity won their school's first basketball championship by defeating Cooperative 16-14 in a game that changed character completely between the first and second halves.
The first half started off as if this were going to be a relatively high-scoring affair for a couple of closely matched girls junior varsity teams. The Griffins jumped out to a quick 4-0 on a pair of baskets by Irene Vergara, but Cooperative came back to take the lead 6-4 by the end of the quarter on driving lay-ups by Tania Landivar, who would account for all of the Jaguars' points.
The two teams took turns holding the lead in the second quarter, and at halftime the Cooperative girls were ahead 12-10.
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BASKET WORSHIP -- Both teams prayed for baskets. Here the Griffins try to will Irene Vergara's shot into the hoop, while Jaguars beseech it to pop out.
Jonatan Muñoz, International
An unusually large crowd of Griffin students and faculty were present to urge their team onward with shouts and cheers, having heeded posters around the school urging them to stay for their game, which took place in the International gym.
A smaller group of Cooperative supporters was also on hand, mostly teachers and parents.
In the second half, with the championship now clearly on the line in every possession, the defenses of both teams tightened, and the shooters seemed to become more nervous.
At the end of the third quarter the score was knotted at 14-14, where it stayed until Vergara made another of her short range shots in which used her height to advantage to launch the ball accurately over the defenders.
International then took a time out that killed much of the final two minutes. (The clock continues to run during time outs in junior varsity games under a rule that is likely to come under review in the off season.)
The championship marked a big step upward for the basketball program at International under the direcrion of Eduardo "Presi" de la Riva, currently in his second season as coach of basketball.
The Griffin teams had generally finished last until last year, when the girls varsity moved up to third. This year the boys varsity reached the finals of the postseason playoffs, and the girls junior varsity triumphed, winning the playoffs after finishing first during the regulat season with a 5-1 record. Their only loss was to Cooperative.
A year ago the Griffin girls JV was winless, and was beaten on one occasion 74-6 by Cooperative, which represented the highest score ever amassed by any team in League history.
Cooperative had a down-and-up season in which the Jaguars began by losing their first two games, one a one-point loss to International, and the other a severe drubbing by Christian Learning.
But the Jaguars rallied to take their next four games, including convincing wins over Christian Learning and International. Their winning streak, however, ended Thursday.
Vergara led the scoring for International with 12 points. Angela Gagliardi and Katherin Ceballos had two points each.
Tania Landivar scored all of Cooperative's 14 points.
Knights 28, Eagles 16
Cambridge boys beat Eagles, stay unbeaten
The Cambridge boys junior varsity basketball unveiled a new, more diversified attack and took charge of the championship game against Christian Learning, winning 28-16.
The game, which was played on neautral turf in the Cooperative gym Thursday, was decided early as Cambridge took a 9-2 lead in the first quarter, and then stretched it out to 17-4 at halftime
The Little Eagles managed a minor uprising in the third quarter during which Cambridge appeared to lose focus and began to make mental errors, and cut the Cambridge lead back to nine points, 21-12.
But the Knights reasserted themselves in the fourth quarter, and won going away.
The Eagle fans on hand hoped, and the Cambridge contingent feared, that the Eagles were going put on the sort of insurrection that they had in the second regular season meeting between the two teams, which had gone into overtime, and which Cambridge had finally won by a single basket.
The Christian Learning strategy in that game had depended on shutting down Cambridge's big star, Jose Ribera, at which they were reasonably successful. This time, however, Cambridge had its full roster of players on hand, possibly for the first time this season, and was able to counter this strategy by spreading the scoring around.
Anthony Salvatierra was actually the Knights big scorer in the first half, accounting for ten of the Knights 17 points.
The Eagles for their part continued to play with elan, and kept the game from getting out of control with intensive defensive efforts, and some amazing shots by Luis Doi, Cesar Flores, and Caleb Hwang in which the ball was seemingly flung in only the general direction of the basket, and magically swished through the rim.
Hwang's shot at the final buzzer was perhaps the most amazing, fired with both hands from some distance out, while on the run.
The win completed Cambridge's undefeated season, in which the game against Christian Learning was the only one that was close. The jubilant players completed a couple of raucous, exuberant victory laps around the gym after completing the win, together with an assortment of fans, one on a rip-stick.
Salvatierra finished with ten points for Cambridge, and Ribera with nine. Alonso Tercero had three. Roberto Palenque, Kevin Mendez, and Gustavo Roca had two each.
For Christian Learning, Cesar Flores had six. Richard Enns, Nathan Brown, Claudio Sandoval and Caleb Hwang had two each. Wesley Ordoñez and Haziel Martinez had one point each.
