Rancho Bernardo’s girls’ basketball team is not the quickest team on the court.
The Broncos often are not the tallest.
But, with three wins in the Southern California Regional Division 2 playoffs, they entered the week one game away from capturing the SoCal title and playing for the state championship Saturday at the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento.
What they do is play suffocating defense and rain three-point field goals on their opponents. They also learned.
Taking the long way around for the second straight year, RB refused to allow a first-round loss in the section Open Division championship to slow them down, especially this year.
“We practiced every day to get ready for Francis Parker in the Open Division and although we lost (38-24), I was proud of the way we played,” said coach Kyle Williamson. “Last year the week leading up to the Regionals was our (spring) break and although we won our first two games, we seemed to be very slow in our semifinal loss.
“This year we practiced hard all 11 days before the Regionals and I could see the difference. I don’t think our players liked how we looked — like a team that hadn’t practiced for 11 days — going into the playoffs last year, but this time we were ready.”
Rancho Bernardo earned a home game in the first round as the No. 7 seed but drew traditional Southern California power Rosary Academy of Fullerton. After a scary 38-35 victory, the Broncos learned they’d play at home again after Mark Keppel upset No. 2 Grossmont, 51-46.
“My scorekeeper told me that I have a 10-0 record at home in the playoffs,” said Williamson, whose team downed Keppel, 41-37. “Rosary and Mark Keppel were similar teams — not real tall but ankle-biters who press you the entire game.
“But we play in the Palomar League against teams like Mission Hills and Westview. We finished third this year at 6-4 but that’s the first time we’ve been above .500 in league since I can’t when.
“When play against teams like that, you see just about every kind of defense they can throw at you. We’ve played well against teams that press, so we were ready.”
Having to go to Arroyo Grande High — a mere traffic-laden five-hour drive north — the Broncos knew they’d face a hostile crowd, but after a slow start, those three-point field goals started falling. And falling and falling.
Meanwhile, the defense again played its role, denying the easy inside baskets and forcing the Eagles to shoot from outside, which was not their strength. Going into the game they had made just four long-range shots in only 11 attempts.
Conversely, RB had made 155 with Keira Tokushige (54 treys), Myla Jones (40), Lindsay Biddle (33) and Reese Tokushige (20) all not in least hesitant to launch from beyond the arc. They hit 11 threes.
That quieted the crowd and Arroyo Grande never could catch up, losing, 44-37.
“We go over the top on defense when an opponent sets a screen and even if we don’t get the ball, we throw off the shooter,” explained Williamson. “We’re going to keep shooting the threes because that’s what got us here, although we did pay the price against Cathedral Catholic and Grossmont.
“When we get out feet set, we make those shots but if we hurry the three, like we did early against Arroyo Grande, we don’t.”
Another weapon is 6-foot-3 Abby Lesagonicz, so when an opponent tries to attack the three-point shot, Lesagonicz, a junior who is headed to Oregon State for volleyball, can roll to the basket and potentially an easy layup.
“It’s interesting because girls’ basketball has become either a game of layups or three-point shots,” said Williamson. “We can shoot the mid-range shots, too, but we prefer the three.”
Should the Broncos qualify for the state championship, it will be Williamson’s first trip to the state capital. In 2021, his team won the Southern California Regional but that was the COVID season when the games were played in the spring, and there was no state tournament.
With 213 wins in 10 years, he’s looking for just two more.
