On the final night of the regular season, the Coastal League title still had to be completely finalized.
Seocnd-ranked Francis Parker traveled to No. 3 La Jolla Country Day on Friday to decide things. Win, and Parker would secure the title outright; lose, and it would share the championship.
Francis Parker used an 11-0 third-quarter run to defeat the Torreys 51-42 and claim the Coastal League title outright.
“This is the time to take over,” said Lancers freshman Isabella Riddle, who scored a game-high 24 points. “If we don’t take over now, it’s going to be hard to win this game. We have to extend this lead and make it easier.”
The 11-0 run grew the margin to 12 points and was as large as 13 before the Torreys fought back.
La Jolla Country Day (16-10, 4-2 Coastal League) got to within three points with five minutes left in the fourth quarter before Francis Parker (18-8, 6-0 Coastal League) was able to control the rest of the game. Francis Parker completed the season sweep of the Torreys; back on Jan. 28, the Lancers beat LJCD 46-45 for its first win over the school in 20 years.
“We had to fight,” Lancers coach Courtney Clements said to her players as the final quarter progressed. “We were a little tired and giving into that fatigue. We couldn’t give in and if they wanted a championship, then their mindset had to be that they weren’t tired, and they were going to play through it.”
After Lancers freshman Brianna Mendez made a 3-pointer to extend the lead back to six, Riddle got one of her many offensive rebounds and the putback, leading to a three-point play.
“We knew she was going to be our biggest advantage, and that was our game plan going in,” Clements said of Riddle. “She did a great job of getting her the ball. She did a great job of finishing around the rim, being physical, being strong. It happened on both ends for us.
“She’s been battling all season. She’s been having to guard some of the best players in the country.”
Mendez added 11 points, including back-to-back 3-pointers in the middle of a 14-0 run to give the Lancers an early 16-7 lead with three minutes left in the first quarter.
Francis Parker sophomore Gigi Ong scored eight points, controlling the point guard duties.
“I think that Gigi is the heart of our team, in of toughness, doing all the little things,” said Clements, who spent three seasons in the SDSU women’s basketball program from 2010-13. “She’s not a player that loves to score, but she’s going to do everything else for us to make sure that we’re a championship squad.”
La Jolla Country Day was led by juniors Mahlia Washington and Safiyah Sugapong, who scored 11 points each.
