GIRLS BASKETBALL: Semifinal Shocker

St. Francis 51, Scotts Valley 45

The Stars: Sophomore Lauren Price was sensational on Thursday night. Staying poised against the Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League’s stingiest defense, Price slashed her way to a team-high 17 points in the Sharks upset win. Senior guard Gianna Azzaro also had a big night with 12 points. Sophomore Marisa Azua scored 10 points and Iva Lasich had eight points.

The Turning Point: Tightly contested from start-to-finish, a pair of St. Francis baskets off Scotts Valley (20-5, 12-1 SCCAL) turnovers opened up the biggest lead of the night for the Cinderella St. Francis (17-10, 7-6 SCCAL) bunch. Senior center Chloe Breszny finished inside to extend the lead to six, then senior guard Gianna Azzaro ripped off a steal at midcourt and flew in for the score. The bucket forced a Scotts Valley timeout and gave St. Francis a surprising 44-35 lead with 4:14 left in the fourth quarter.

 The Quotes: “I still don’t really believe it,” St. Francis senior Iva Lasich said after the thrilling semifinal victory over previously undefeated Scotts Valley High. “We came out a lot more composed. Our defense picked it up and we finished. There’s been so many games where we had leads and we just couldn’t finish the game off right. Tonight was finished. It feels so great.”

Scotts Valley came into the game riding a 15-game winning streak, including a 12-0 mark in SCCAL league play.

"Turnovers, lack of defense and rebounding hurt us tonight." —Scotts Valley head coach Jim Hart said after the sobering defeat in the Santa Cruz Coast Athletic league tournament semifinals. “Our defense was very poor. This one stings right now, but I’d rather get bit in the league tournament than in CCS. We certainly got bit tonight. Give credit to St. Francis. They played really well tonight.”

 What's Next? St. Francis will face off against Soquel High on Saturday afternoon at 3 pm in the SCCAL girls basketball tournament final. The title tilt will be held at Aptos High. Soquel defeated St. Francis twice in the regular season.

 Bottom Line: : A 15-game winning streak and a perfect 12-0 mark in SCCAL play ended Thursday night for the Falcons. With St. Francis playing without its top scorer—junior guard Ana Lasich missed the game with a knee injury—the Falcons lack of energy early kept the higher seed in the game. Turnovers, foul trouble, defensive coverage and rebounding issues plagued the mighty Falcons on this night. According to Lasich’s older sister Iva, Ana may try and give it a go in Saturday’s SCCAL championship.

—————————

St. Francis Scoring

Iva Lasich-8

Azzaro-12

Price-17

Barcells-4

Azua-10

Breszny-2