Santa Ana Mater Dei blows 17-point lead to Fairfield Vanden in Division II girls’ championship
Mater Dei falls in Division II girls final.
Reporting from Sacramento — It was a comeback for the ages in the CIF state championship Division II girls’ final Saturday at Golden 1 Center.
Santa Ana Mater Dei was cruising with a 17-point lead early in the fourth quarter after a three-pointer by Jayda Adams. Then Fairfield Vanden rallied behind Houston-bound Julia Blackshell-Fair to pull out a 64-61 victory.
Blackshell-Fair delivered a three-point play with 11.2 seconds left after a steal to put the Vikings on top for good. The 5-foot-10 senior finished with 20 points, 21 rebounds and eight assists.
“We really couldn’t stop her at any point,” Mater Dei Coach Kevin Kiernan said.
Cyndi Lewis had 23 points and 12 rebounds for Mater Dei (24-9). Duke-bound Adams had 19 points.
Open: Fresno Clovis West won the Open Division title over San Jose Mitty, 44-40. Danae Marquez made two free throws with 5.4 seconds left to clinch the victory.
Division IV: Junior point guard Kiara Jefferson took charge in the fourth quarter in leading Sacramento West Campus to a 63-55 victory over Rancho Cucamonga Los Osos. The game was tied, 49-49, after three quarters, but Jefferson, who scored 24 points on 10-of -3 shooting, made key plays to start the fourth. Freshman Breanne Ha had 24 points for Los Osos.
Los Osos was outrebounded, 44-32, and 22-10 on the offensive boards.
Division IV boys: After leading by one point at halftime, La Mesa Helix (31-6) came out with little energy in the third quarter and Vallejo St. Patrick-St. Vincent took advantage to come away with a 59-46 victory.
It also didn’t help that 6-9 center Miles Norris picked up his fourth foul midway through the third quarter. Norris finished with 11 points and 10 rebounds.
St. Patrick-St. Vincent used its offensive balance to cause problems all game. BJ Standley finished with 16 points and Marquel Johnson, Romeo Mays and Tavian Henderson each had 12 points.
Follow Eric Sondheimer on Twitter @latsondheimer
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