Acorns girls make school history with third straight title

The Live Oak girls basketball team has completed a three-year run of unprecedented success. The Acorns won three straight league titles, racking up a 34-2 league record in that span, with a 59-21 overall mark. 

Additionally, Live Oak won at least one Central Coast Section playoff game each year, highlighted by picking up three triumphs in CCS D3 post-season games this season.

“We started off a little rough,” senior center Rian Henderson said. “But we believed and we had confidence. We didn’t give up and we kept pushing. It took a lot of patience. It feels pretty good to be the first team at Live Oak to win league three years in a row.”

Live Oak went 11-1 in the Blossom Valley Athletic League, Almaden Valley Division. In fact, the only defeat was a “throwaway” game to finish league play, as the Acorns had clinched the league title and coach Mike Kiefer played his bench nearly the entire way at Del Mar.

Live Oak showed its full power in the playoffs. They demolished Hill 51-10 in a play-in game on Feb. 17, then smacked Greenfield 51-32 on Feb. 21 and followed by pounding a solid Aptos team 39-20 a day later. 

In the quarterfinals on Feb. 25, they lost 52-40 to Notre Dame San Jose, a team that came within one late play of winning the CCS championship, losing 51-50 to Mills in the title match.

“The girls have been playing out of their minds,” coach Kiefer said. “In the pre-season, we played ‘A’ Division teams, people better than we’d see in league. We played teams that are taller than we are.”

That experience and learning fortified the Acorns. They began league play with 11 straight wins, holding nine of the opponents to 28 points or fewer. Four of the 11 were held below 20 points. The toughest contenders were Lincoln, Oak Grove and Del Mar.

“Our first game against Lincoln would be the most memorable one,” senior Kat Clement said. “We’re not tall compared to Lincoln.”

Live Oak led the Lions 19-15 at halftime and won 33-28. In a departure from normal, there was little depth scoring. Clement was a force with 16 points and nine rebounds and Henderson contributed 15 points and nine boards.

“We knew it would be our hardest league game,” Henderson said. “They’re physical. We pushed hard and didn’t get flustered.”

In the 11-game league run, Live Oak won all the other games by 15 or more points.

Clement led the Acorns with 16.8 points per game and 7.7 rebounds per game. She can shoot from distance and her athleticism and agility produced drives to the hoop, rebounding and a superb ability to finish at the rim. 

Henderson, at 6-feet even, provided inside scoring and rebounding while giving Live Oak rim protection on defense, and tallied big block totals. Henderson also provided an oft-overlooked silky, smooth and silky outside jump shot.

Live Oak succeeded because many others are big contributors. Lilly Mojica is a prototypical quick point guard who handles the ball well and racks up assists. Aleenah Garcia can handle the ball, dish for assists and shoot from outside. She led Live Oak with 2.2 assists per game and contributed 5.0 rebounds per game. 

Amelya Forbis is a perfect complement up front to Henderson and others, providing offense, rebounding and defense all over the floor. She pulled down an average of 4.1 rebounds per game. 

“When I come up court, I’m thinking of the plays we’re running,” Mojica said. “We have great team chemistry.”

The Acorns have a solid bench with Allie Murray, Sophia Buenrostro, Phoebe De Palma, Kiley Wyatt and Ciana Anaya. Juniors Alexis Valdez and Penny Carrillo have been out injured.

“Kat and Rian are a dynamic duo,” coach Kiefer said. “Kat does everything. She can play guard or be in the post. She’s our energy. Every game. 

“Rian is a dominant defender. She blocks a lot of shots. She works from the high post but can also step out and knock down the three. And she absorbs contact inside and it doesn’t faze her. What makes them really good is that they don’t just play one side; they play both ends of the court.”

Kiefer cited team defense and rebounding as being the Acorns’ biggest keys to success. The team usually presses full-court all game and has five different press deployments.

“On the court, the key is our defense,” Henderson said. “Off the court, we’ve grown together. We have bonded outside basketball and that shows on the court.”

After a quiet first four minutes in the CCS play-in game, Live Oak led Hill just 8-7. Over the next 17 minutes, LOHS blew the visitors away, outscoring the Falcons 37-0, while holding them to 0-for-12 shooting and forcing 21 turnovers.

“After the start, we just said, ‘Let’s play like us’,” Henderson said. “We all had confidence in each other. We believe our defense is awesome.”

Clement led the attack with 20 points and 10 rebounds while Henderson contributed 11 points and six boards. Kiefer utilized his bench well and the squad had their biggest cheers watching De Palma and Murray knock down long shots.

“Our zone press was good today,” Forbis said. “Then in half-court, we switched to a man defense. Our offense works because we’re unselfish. We find each other with passes and our passing was good.”

Kiefer cited increased energy after the game’s first handful of minutes. He added how the defense shined and that it created the offense. Additionally, he complimented the “fabulous” bench play. 

The squad was happy with the outcome and ready to advance further in the playoffs.

“I think we did great today,” Garcia said. “Our fast-break offense was great and in the half court, we were reading their defense well.”

In the next playoff game, Live Oak came out on fire, leading the visitors from Greenfield 26-6 at halftime and rolled on. Clement paced LO with 23 points and nine rebounds, Henderson added 13 points and eight boards and Forbis also had eight rebounds.

Over on the coast the next night, Live Oak led 20-15 at halftime and then ran away from Aptos. Clement shot 10-for-15 in racking up 21 points and collecting nine rebounds. Henderson scored seven and pulled down nine rebounds. Garcia scored seven points.

Against Notre Dame San Jose, Live Oak fell behind and closed late but it was not enough, losing 52-40. Clement scored 19 and secured nine rebounds. Henderson had 13 points and six rebounds.

The season had completed and it was a year in which the Acorns players put the program on the mountaintop. Three straight league titles, a 34-2 league record over that span, and three CCS playoff wins. One of the best post-seasons and comparable to the 2019-20 team that beat Burlingame before falling to Aptos in the semifinals and the 1981 team that reached the CCS championship game.