Varsity Girls Basketball

LOOSE BALL SMACKDOWN -- Knight Maira Lino (10) and Griffin Matilde Gamarra (11) go for the ball while Isabel Barrenechea (1) appears ready to take further action. Julia Boldt, Cooperative

Knights snatch victory over Griffins

By Daniel Roempler

International School

The Cambridge varsity girls basketball team managed to wrench a 19-18 victory from the International team on an unbelievable final minute play Thursday afternoon in the International gym.

It was a in a nail-biting encounter that leaves the Knights with boosted confidence just before tackling the semifinal phase of the tournament. Cambridge, which finished with a 1-5 record, will face undefeated Cooperative in the semifinals April 13. Internation, which finished in third place with a 2-4 record, will play Christian Learning. The championships will be April 15.

The opening minutes of the game showed a tight match where both teams seemed to be timidly testing the strength of their opponent, with neither scoring until Cambridge’s Mariana Escaño decided to break open the scoring with a field goal. Teammmate Maira Lino hit a foul shot and the first quarter ended with a 3-0 lead for Cambridge.

However this first glimpse was nothing but a preview of what was about to become a fierce battle between Knights and Griffins . The second quarter started of with a real exhibition of skill and leadership by Escano, the only senior on the Cambridge team. She undertook a series of brave runs that sliced the Griffin defense repeatedly, pacing her team to a five-point lead 7-2.

However, with ten seconds remaining in the second quarter she twisted her knee attempting to shake of her defender and had to sit out the rest of the game. Her absence left a noticeable gap in the Cambridge formation.

The International girls took advantage of this, and put together a great comeback in the third quarter to take the lead 12 to 11 that included six points by Maria Isabel Barrenechea and a beautiful shot by Matilde Gamarra after avoiding two Cambridge players.

This great teamwork continued during the last quarter, but the Knights reacted to the pressure and ratcheted up their game as well.

In the seventh minute of the fourth quarter the Griffin girls had expanded their lead to 16-13, but in one of those moments in basketball where a breath of inspiration strikes a team, the Cambridge girls donned their armor and struck back, closing the gap to a single point, 18-17.

Then with 36 second on the clock, there was a heart-stopping moment. Cambridge seventh grader Nicole Fermin grabbed a rebound and dashed the length of the court, outracing the defense, to score the winning basket on a flawless lay-up.

For Cambridge, Maira Lino led the scoring with seven points, followed by Melanie Andia with six. Escaño had four, and Fermin 2.

For International, Irene Barrenechea had eight points, Gamarra had six. Laura Margaño and Fabiana Zelada each had two.

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TRIUMPH AND TRAGEDY -- Knight Mariana Escaño executes a daring steal (right),

but was forced to the sidelines just before halftime with a twisted knee (below).

Juan Carlos Coronel, Cambridge

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UP FOR GRABS? -- Jaguar center Carla Limpias (11) waits for a high, floating pass. While the play looked chancy, it often worked. Julia Boldt, Cooperative School

Undefeated Jaguars beat Eagles

The Cooperative girls varsity basketball completed its undefeated season with a 41-19 win over Christian Learning on their home court Thursday afternoon.

The Jaguars will now play fourth place Cambridge in the opening round of the playoffs April 13, which could be a closer match-up than would seem the case based on the teams differing records. Although Cambridge is only 1-5, the Knights are the only team to a play a close game against the Jaguars this year, losing 13-9 last week. It was the only game in which Cooperative was held to less than 28 points.

Christian Learning will play International in its semifinal. The two teams each won a game in their regular season meetings.

Cooperative had clearly recovered from its offensive malaise against Cambridge, and scored steadily, about ten points a quarter, throughout the game, while keeping the Eagle offense in check. The Jaguars were ahead 11-2 at the end of the first quarter, and 20-8 at the half.

The Eagles had actually appeared to be reviving toward the end of the first half, but the Jaguars squelched any hopes of an Eagle comeback by outscoring the visitors 11-2 again in the third quarter, bringing the score to 31-10.

The twin towers of the Cooperative offense -- Ana Paula Peredo and Carla Limpias -- each had 13 points. Cecelia Aponte contributed nine, Tania Landivar had four, and Sofia Sotelo two.

For Christian Learning, Kaylynn Lampen had eight points, Ruth Nyquist four; Abby Phillips three; and Jessica Smith two.

Aubrey Olson and Jenny Zimmerman of Christian Learning contributed to this report.