GIRLS’ BASKETBALL DIVISION III : OLP Stops Lincoln on Second Try

SAN DIEGO —  Yvonne Sanchez, the first-year girls’ basketball coach at Our Lady of Peace, redeemed herself Thursday with her team’s 67-60 victory over top-seeded Lincoln in the San Diego Section Division III girls’ basketball final at Golden Hall.

After the last game of the regular season, Sanchez had said that coaching errors--especially a decision to design OLP’s defense around Lincoln’s 6-foot-3 Sheila Dixon--had contributed to a 12-point loss.

Thursday, Sanchez went back to the defense OLP had been using all along. And it worked.

“We put 5-8 (April) Velk on (Dixon),” Sanchez said. “She couldn’t stop Sheila, nobody can. But she did hold her.”

Dixon did manage to score 29 points for Lincoln, but it wasn’t enough.

With 2 minutes 58 seconds remaining, Tammy Tavares hit a three-pointer to increase OLP’s lead to nine. But Dixon scored three consecutive baskets in 50 seconds to pull Lincoln within three, 62-59.

Free throws decided it after that. Tavares made two with 1:02 remaining. Lincoln’s Dianna Lewis went to the line and hit one, making it 64-60. With 10 seconds remaining, Tavares was fouled intentionally and made one to make it 65-60. And Kathy Bashi went to the line for two more with five seconds remaining to finish the scoring and cap the victory for OLP (23-4).

“When you say Lincoln, you think of big people who know how to play basketball,” Bashi said. “We were definitely the underdog. There are four seniors on the team, and we said we were going to win it this year.”

Bashi finished with 15 points, Tavares with 21, including two three pointers. Velk scored 16.

“We went out there, and we didn’t think about past wins or past losses,” Tavares said. “Everything is different in the playoffs. This has been my goal since eighth grade. The last time against Lincoln, we played them so scrappy that tonight they didn’t know what to do with us. They had three girls on me, but I could always twist and turn and get away.”

OLP jumped to its biggest lead, 28-16, with three minutes remaining in the second quarter. But Lewis scored eight points in the final 3:23 of the half to cut the lead to 35-30. Lewis finished with 17 points.

“I was getting a bit nervous,” Sanchez said. “I didn’t want the girls to get tense.”

Dixon came out in the third quarter and scored consecutive baskets to bring Lincoln within 35-34. The Pilots pushed the advantage back to five, but Lincoln again pulled within one on a Dixon basket, 44-43. OLP pulled out to a five-point lead one more time, and Bashi then scored on a three-pointer at the buzzer to make it 51-43 going into the final quarter.