The Sobrato girl’s basketball team was named to the CIF-CCS
Division II tournament as the No. 13 seed
SAN JOSE — Not knowing if her girls basketball team would earn a postseason berth at Sunday’s CIF-Central Coast Section playoff meeting, Sobrato coach Natalie Bobuk had one thing to say to the Lady Bulldogs after their 56-39 victory over Leigh on Friday: “Be ready to practice Monday.”
For once, hoping and planning for the best paid off. Considering her team had fulfilled only one postseason requisite, having finished better than .500, Bobuk was hesitantly confident at the start of the climactic meeting in San Jose. The first-year coach got excited, though, as she watched the Nos. 16, 15 and 14 seeds for the Division II tournament go to teams with losing records.
Unanimously backed by Blossom Valley Athletic League-Mount Hamilton Division coaches, Sobrato was announced the No. 13 seed.
“I was a little surprised,” Bobuk said. “But I was definitely happy with the spot we got. Coaches were coming up and telling me we deserved to be there. That was the best part. My girls want to be there. They’ve had their ups and downs. But they want to keep playing. They want to win.”
And so the Bulldogs (13-12 overall, 5-9 BVAL) were back at practice Monday, priming for their first-round battle with No. 12 Westmoor. They tip off at 7 p.m. Tuesday in Daly City. The winner will travel to No. 5 North Salinas on Thursday.
Making its second straight postseason appearance, Sobrato is facing a Rams team that finished 12-12 overall and 8-2 in the Peninsula Athletic League; good for second place.
Bobuk said tonight’s matchup is favorable.
“It’s a winnable game,” she added. “They’ve lost to some teams we’ve beaten. So we’re confident we can play with them.
“From what I’ve heard, they’re a shorter team that shoots a lot of 3s.”
That bodes well for the Bulldogs, who can score from anywhere on the court. They did so Friday at Sobrato Gym in one of their most clutch performances this season. A loss would have left them below .500, further jeopardizing playoff hope.
“It was a really strong game for us,” Bobuk said. “The girls came together. They played with cohesiveness. They’re starting to play the way I’ve been teaching them to.”
The Bulldogs received a game-high 16 points from Melissa Cachopo, and 13 points from Courtney Sedlak and Sarina Santiago, with Sedlak also adding seven steals. Senior center Gabi Gamez pulled down 11 rebounds to go with seven points for Sobrato, which led 19-14 at halftime.
Leigh (1-20, 0-13) closed the margin to 34-30 heading into the third quarter, but the Bulldogs sprinted away in the fourth, outscoring the Longhorns 22-9.
“I got a little scared in the third because we always seem to slow down for a quarter,” Bobuk said. “But we stepped up in the fourth. We followed our shots. Gabi was huge for us, getting rebounds. We played physically.”
Sobrato finished fifth place in the division and is one of six Mount Hamilton teams that made the playoffs.
Last year, the Bulldogs were the No. 13 seed when they reached the second round of the Division III tournament under then-coach Rodney Tabares.
