Sobrato athletic Kevin Miller called Erica Wallace over seconds after the girls basketball team defeated its arch rival, 66-51, and gave her the news.
Wallace walked into the team huddle and gave her girls the same news.
What followed was an explosion of exuberance that rivaled the Beatles on the Ed Sullivan Show: the Sobrato girls basketball team just became Santa Teresa Division champions.
“I thought we were going to tie for first, so hearing those words was just (amazing),” Wallace said. “It’s everything they worked for. They were so excited to do it again.”
With two minutes to play in the Bulldogs’ game against Live Oak, Leigh’s game against Santa Teresa went final, with the Longhorns losing 40-36.
Leigh and Sobrato started the night tied for first and it ended with the Bulldogs, in a manner of speaking, the top dog.
This is Sobrato’s second straight league title, after capturing the Blossom Valley Athletic League’s West Valley Division a year ago. They were bumped up to the Santa Teresa “B” Division this year and didn’t miss a beat.
“I knew the very first year I got to Sobrato when we got to the C league, I knew we were contending with B League teams: We lost a lot of games, but they were within eight points, 10 points,” Wallace said. “So I knew if we ever got a shot back up there, we’d make a dent. I just didn’t think it would be this big of a dent.”
Because of senior night, Sobrato and Live Oak’s game started after the 7 p.m. scheduled tipoff, it allowed Leigh’s game to end first and let the Bulldogs to know their league title fates.
“At first I was nervous because it was senior night and we were playing for the title. But during the game, I was like, OK, we got this,” said senior Hazel Hill.
Sobrato knew pretty quickly that it would likely clinch no worse than a share of the league title thanks to a 9-0 run in the first quarter that gave the Bulldogs a 10-point lead early.
“I told them back in September that you have to work to be a champion; you don’t just wake up (as champions). Right here, what we are building right now is to become champions,” Wallace said. “So at the beginning of the game, I just reminded them that we’re champions. We’re in a championship game. … And, yeah, the energy definitely carried onto the court.”
Sobrato finishes the season 15-8 overall, 10-4 in league play.
Live Oak concludes the regular season 13-11 overall and 7-7 in the Santa Teresa Division.
“They had a lot to play for. I tried to express to the girls that we had noting to lose and we needed to come out and match their energy and we didn’t,” said Live Oak coach Mike Kiefer. “They came out and they played like they wanted to win a league championship. We came out and played like we didn’t really want to deny that.”
Kiefer said he wasn’t trying to tell his girls so much they could play spoilers and deny Sobrato a league title, but more that by winning the game, they could have taken a better seed into the playoffs.
Though Live Oak pushed down the deficit to seven by the end of the quarter at 16-9, the Bulldogs remained on a roll through the second quarter.
Megan Yabumoto hit a pair of 3s and Vanessa Gonzalez had six points to give Sobrato a 33-21 lead at the half.
Live Oak had quality looks in the second quarter, but the 3-ball wasn’t kind early on in the frame.
Still Fayth Lyon and Jennifer Rosales both hit from beyond the arc to give the Acorns a normally respectable 12-point quarter.
Lyon had a career-high 23 points in the loss.
Her nine points in the third quarter was bested only by Gonzalez’ 13-point effort to lead Sobrato to a 53-40 lead going to the fourth quarter.
“I was proud. It was like seeing a little sister grow up,” Hill said.
Gonzalez finished with 21 points for the game.
“She understands when she needs to execute and when she needs to stick the nail in the coffin. She’s turning into a beast offensively. Defensively, too, being more disciplined and more selective. She definitely gave us the energy we needed.”
Yabumoto took over in the fourth, scoring seven of her 18 points in the frame, including going 3-3 from the line.
For Live Oak, Amy Gunther had 11 points, including hitting a pair of 3s in the third.
The Acorns made a run in the fourth quarter, pulling to within nine after being down by 17 early in the frame.
But Sobrato closed things out on a 7-1 scoring run to put the game on ice.
Before the game, Sobrato had a ceremony to send off its seniors: Hill and Christina Barrera.
Wallace said since Barrera had been injured for much of the season, she wasn’t sure if the senior would be able to play. But before the game, Barrera assured her coach she was good to go and ended up scoring the game’s first points.
Hill put in Sobrato’s second basket.
But in a symbolic passing of the torch, neither senior was a huge factor in the game.
Barrera’s minutes were limited as the guard heavy Bulldog team got others playing time. Hill put up a respectable seven points, but got into foul trouble early, and was sat for the second quarter, much of the third and eventually fouled out in the fourth.
But she was still on the bench pumping her fists and cheering loudly as her teammates sank key shots down the stretch.
All that is left now for both teams is the Central Coast Section playoff selection, which will be announced on Sunday.
Sobrato by virtue of winning league will receive an automatic bid into the postseason. The Bulldogs should receive a home game Tuesday night as they did when they won the West Valley Division last year.
Still, Wallace was a little guarded about her team’s prospects.
Live Oak can make a bid for a playoff spot, likely having to hit the road if the Acorns get into the postseason. Live Oak had a winning record in the nonleague season and a .500 record in league play, either of which is good enough to put in a bid for playoff consideration.
“Right now, after tonight it’s 50-50 I’d say. I think we’ll get in, but I think we just shot ourselves in the foot with regards to potentially having a higher seed,” Kiefer said. “What we have to do is, whoever we draw, we hit the floor and look to knock them out.”
