MILLBREA—Sobrato made an unprecedented run in the Central Coast section playoffs, advancing the furthest in the school’s girls basketball history.
But in such a run, you eventually have to face the best teams in the division, and Sobrato wasn’t able to muster enough of the magic that had carried the Bulldogs through the season against Soquel, falling 73-50.
The team of largely sophomores and just one senior went up against a senior-laden group who showed off why it was the No. 2 seed in the tournament.
“It was a great platform, a great stage for them to play a great team,” said coach Eric Wallace. “Sophomore Kiana. Helena Sophomore. Jessica Sophomore. I just have so many sophomores and freshmen that it’s amazing we’re going to come back next year and the year after and just keep working hard.”
Sobrato finishes the season 22-5 overall, which included its third league title in four seasons.
The win total is the second best in team history, finishing just behind the 2007-08 season when the Bulldogs went 23-5.
“It’s a great feeling that they bought into this new system, bought into the new league and they came in ready to prove a point and seek some redemption from finishing in the middle of the pack from last year,” Wallace said.
But until this year, Sobrato had never made it out of the quarterfinals, which it pulled off with a win over Saratoga.
Against Soquel, the Bulldogs put up a fight early, but eventually the size and experience of the Knights proved too much.
Soquel out rebounded Sobrato 34-23 and effectively bottled up the Bulldogs’ biggest threats on offense.
“Usually we score off our second chance opportunities, our offensive putbacks, but we really couldn’t get our hands on very many offensive putbacks,” Wallace said. “They are a great team. They all shoot well.”
KiannaBriel Maldia still put up a team-leading 21 points, but the two other pieces of Sobrato’s Big 3 was held to a combined 14 points and nine rebounds.
Maldia did all she could to keep Sobrato in the game, hitting seven points in both the second and fourth quarters and had 10 steals.
Karla Martinez finished her Sobrato career with 10 points and five boards with Ally Nodohara hitting a trio of 3s to finish with 11 on the night.
Sobrato’s other inside players—post player Jessica Byrum and forward Helena Batey—had two and four points, respectively, witha combined 10 boards.
But on the otherside, Soquel’s shooting guard Nayeli Rodrigeuz had 24 points, including hitting five 3s and going for 11 in the first quarter.
She didn’t score in the fourth quarter.
Meanwhile, Mckenna Finch and Michaela Thornton both chipped in 12 points, with Finch pulling down 10 rebounds to lead in that category.
Sobrato hung tough in the first quarter, briefly taking a 7-5 lead before Soquel made an adjustment to attack the Bulldogs’ zone and went on an 11-5 run to close the quarter.
Sobrato put up decent numbers in the second, going for 13 points in the frame, but Soquel pulled away with 20 points following a 9-0 run to start the quarter.
Sobrato trailed 36-25 at the half and things got bleaker in the third quarter.
The Knights outscored Sobrato 16-7 out of the break and kept the hammer down in the fourth.
Behind Maldia’s seven points and Martinez hitting six, the Bulldogs put up 18 in the quarter, but they never got closer than 16 points in the quarter.
