The gym was extra loud as both teams were cheered on by the crowd in the final seconds of the first round of CCS playoffs, but it was Lincoln who came out with a 34-33 victory.
“For them it’s a learning experience and first time being in such a crowd,” Sobrato coach Erica Wallace said. “I love the experience, I love the exposure for them.”
Sobrato had substituted in Jessica Byrum with five minutes remaining in the fourth quarter to help recover rebounds and stop giving Lincoln second chance shots.
The strategy seemed to be working.
Byrum began to take control of the paint which then transitioned to the offense where her teammates looked to take advantage of her size. Byrum took three shots in the paint. She missed the first two, but the third seemed to give the Bulldogs the separation they were looking for.
Coach Wallace said they tried “Running the spread against them and looking to get it in to (Byrum) down low or looking to drive it because it was there we just didn’t do a good job of knocking down the shot once we got it there.”
The score was 33-30
The Lions were not going away though. Maykayla Ehreshman hit a 2-point shot that would set up a dramatic end.
Lincoln called a time out with 17 seconds on the shot clock and 18 in the game clock still behind 33-32.
The Lions tried several times to penetrate, but the Bulldogs blocked them. The clock was still running and it seemed Lincoln was going to need to force a shot.
Some way, somehow Aileen Weise got within two feet from the rim, pulled up and nailed the shot.
Sobrato’s coach Wallace immediately called for a time-out giving the Bulldogs one last opportunity with three seconds left.
Kianna Maldia’s half-court shot was short ending Sobrato’s season. Maldia finished with eight points.
Helena Batey led Sobrato with 10 points.
“I’m so proud of (Batey and Maldia). They’ve come so far since the beginning of the season,” Megan Yabumoto said.
It was always a close game.
Lincoln’s biggest lead came in the third quarter after back-to-back 3s from Sara Greenhalgh and Liv Brashears giving the Lions a 23-18 lead. Sobrato, however, closed the quarter on a 6-0 run to regain the lead.
“We’re definitely fighters,” Batey said. “We all fight for the win, we are crawling on the floor and we are fighting for any rebound.”
Sobrato’s biggest lead came in the beginning of the fourth quarter: Karly Rebozzi missed a three point shot, but made the second try following a Bulldogs offensive rebound to give them the lead 27-23.
There were 12 lead changes.
“We did very well after that first quarter. I think we were really nervous because a lot of us are freshmen and haven’t been to this level,” Helena Batey said.
Both teams struggled to score in the first quarter.
Sobrato scored four points out of their 13 field goal attempts including four 3-points. Lincoln managed 5 points in the quarter.
“It was really choppy. My girls are young so they got kind of nervous at first,” coach Wallace said.
With the next season in mind the Bulldogs will look to build from this season to take it a step further.
“I got my youngsters getting a lot of exposure and playing time so it feels like their feet are wet and we have an advantage for next year,” coach Wallace said.