Sobrato beats Westmoor 64-59 in first round of CCS
DALY CITY — The 1 1/2-hour drive to Daly City was painless, but not nearly as enjoyable as the trip home.
The Sobrato girl’s basketball team had plenty of time to contemplate how it would tackle the No. 12-seeded Westmoor Rams on their own home court. By the time the No. 13 Lady Bulldogs reached Westmoor High School, all nerves had blown out the window.
“We were ready to go,” Sobrato guard Sarina Santiago said. “We were able to talk the whole way there, and we got really pumped up and focused.”
Bringing that composed intensity to the floor, the Bulldogs skillfully dismantled the Rams 64-59 Tuesday in the opening round of the CIF-Central Coast Section playoffs.
Santiago scored a team-high 19 points, point guard Melissa Cachopo added 11 and Courtney Sedlak 10 for Sobrato (14-12 overall), which claimed the first upset of this year’s Division II tournament. The Bulldogs have earned back-to-back trips to the second round of sectionals and will meet No. 5 North Salinas on Thursday.
“We’ve been here before,” Santiago added. “So we’re used to playing in big games like this. We weren’t nervous at all.”
Against Westmoor (13-12) of the Peninsula Athletic League, Sobrato never lost control after outscoring the Rams 16-12 in the first quarter. The Bulldogs poured in 17 points in the second period on the way to leading 33-26 at halftime.
“We came out really strong,” said Sobrato first-year coach Natalie Bobuk, who guided the Bulldogs to a fifth-place finish in the Blossom Valley Athletic League Mount Hamilton Division. “We had control for the whole first half.”
Sobrato accomplished that with superb shooting and up-tempo defense.
“Everyone was on tonight,” Bobuk added.
Sobrato also received eight points apiece from Shealyn Kunze and Priyanka Kumar.
The Bulldogs eclipsed 60 points in only two other games this season, including their season-opening 65-34 win over Watsonville. They were coming off a 56-39 win over Leigh to end the regular season.
“We’ve been getting better each game,” Bobuk said. “I told them earlier this season that if they really wanted to be successful, they needed to improve each game – win or lose. These past couple of games, they came up really big.”
Sobrato lapsed momentarily during the third quarter, allowing the Rams to pull within 49-42 heading into the fourth. Westmoor rallied for seven charity baskets, but the Bulldogs recovered down the stretch.
“Everyone was doing well toward the end,” Santiago said. “I got a lot of open looks because of our passing. Melissa passed really well tonight.”
Tiffany Mariano totaled a game-high 20 points, and Lyza Cruz scored 15 to lead Westmoor.
