STOP THAT SHOT -- Knight Vera de la Fuente (5) loads up to shoot while three Griffins rush to stop her.
Julia Boldt, Cambridge
The International girls junior varsity girls basketball team fought its way into the championship game with a razor-thin 13-12 victory over a scrappy, upset-minded Cambridge team in the Cambridge gym Tuesday.
The Griffins now face Christian Learning in the championship game Thursday in the Christian Learning gym. (See schedule at right.)
The Griffins were the favored team based on having won both of the regular season meetings between the teams, though the second game against Cambridge had been close until the end. In this game they battled evenly right from the start.
The game was tied 4-4 at the end of the first quarter. In the second quarter the Griffins worked their way to a 7-6 lead, which widened to 9-6 on a basket by Renata Maggi right before the half.
International pushed its advantage to four points in the third quarter, 11-7.
But then Cambridge, egged on by a rabid, raucous home crowd, struck back. Field goals by Vera de la Fuente and Nicole Fermin, plus a foul shot by Fermin, brought the game to a 12-12 tie with about three minutes to go.
Fabiana Zelada got the Griffins narrowly back on top when she made one of two foul shots with 1:24 to go, but there was plenty of action yet to come.
The small but vocal International rooting section must have had their hearts in the mouths as Amaya Yañez stole a pass and went in for an uncontested lay-up with 24 seconds to go. She seemed to do everything right. The ball hovered on the rim -- but did not drop in.
Maggi and Fabian Zelada each had six points for International, and Carolina Zelada had one.
For Cambridge, de la Fuente had six points, Fermin four, and Josephina Rodriguez two.
Eaglettes easy winners over Jaguars, 22-11
The undefeated Christian Learning girls basketball team bought its ticket to the championship game with a 22-11 victory over Cooperative in a semi-final played in their home gym Tuesday.
The Eagles will face International, who they have defeated twice this year, in the championship game Thursday. (See schedule at right.)
The Eagle girls led 6-2 at the end of the first quarter, and 10-2 at the half. At the end of the third quarter the score was 18-7.
Rebekah Kienzle of Christian Learning led all scorers with 12 points. Isabel Diaz added six. HaEun Lee and Naomi Canaviri had a basket each.
For Cooperative, Geraldine Milos had four points; Giuliana Varalta had three. Jessica Maureira and Marcella Netzlaff each had two points.
Keith Wilcke of Christian Learning and Alvaro Ludueña of Cooperative provided the information for this report.
