Jaguars Girls finish in customary style, whip Eagles
The Cooperative girls varsity basketball team defeated Christian learning in the championship game 52-22 played at Christian learning Tuesday.
For a few minutes at the beginning of the game -- ten minutes of playing time to be exact -- it looked as if it might be an interesting contest. At the end of the first quarter the Jaguars, owners of the longest winning streak in League history, were ahead by the relatively small margin of 10-7 .
But then all hell broke loose. In the second quarter the suddenly energized Jaguars scored 21 unanswered points to put them ahead 31-7 at half-time. And things got even worse in the third quarter as Cooperative added ten more points before Eagle junior Abby Phillips sank two free throws to break the spell.
At that point the score was 41-9.
The rest of the game was played, but the principal challenge facing Cooperative coach Max Farfan was probably to make sure the girls didn't get the bit in their teeth again and go for another 100-point game. (Cooperative officially apologized for winning game earlier in the year 102-4.)
He threw in every substitute he had, and the Eagles helped by regaining their defensive composure, and scoring another 13 points.
The game may have lacked the drama of, for instance, last year's championship contest in which Christian Learning was ahead of Cooperative by four points with five minutes to go, and eventually succumbed by a relative handful of point. However, was probably a fitting conclusion to the high school playing careers of the three cooperative seniors who have been the heart of the Jaguar team over the past four years -- Sofia Sotelo, Carla Limpias, and Ana Peredo.
The trio has been playing together since the sixth grade, and were League champions when they were junior varsity players. As varsity players they have lost only one game (to Christian Learning in 2008) and won four League championships.
Arguments will probably continue for years as to whether this year's team or last year's, when the Jaguar line-up also featured the tall, high-scoring Aldana Roda, was the best in League history, but this year's was unquestionably the most dominant.
Last year's team had two close games; this year's team had none..In some ways it was lamentable that they weren't more seriously tested. That might help settle the argument.
The Jaguar seniors led the scoring, with all three.in double figures. Limpias had 18, Sotelo 14, and Peredo 11. Giovanna Varalta, a junior, had five opoints. her younger sister, eighth grader Giuliana, had four. Junior Tania Landivar, as well as ninth graders Geraldine Lopez and Jessica Maureira also played.
Rebekah Kienzle, a ninth grader, had ten points for Christian Learning. Phillips had seven, DaHye Chun and Maria Anderson two apiece, and Naomi Canavari one.
Also playing for Christian Lerning were Haven Lee, Leah Kerney,Samia Dajbura, HyeRim Ryu, Sandi Wilcke, Javiera Alipaz, DaEun Chun, and Emily Ordoñez. All of those players, except DaHye Chun will be back next year, indicating the possibility that 2013 could see a return to parity, at least between these two schools.
