It was shocking how quickly it fell apart for the Piedmont High School girls basketball team. The Highlanders had played a terrific first half at Cardinal Newman on Feb. 20 in the first round of the North Coast Section Open Division playoffs, taking a seven-point lead into the break.
The Cardinals got the first two baskets of the second half. Then, Andrea Martin, one of Piedmont’s fabulous freshmen, picked up her fourth foul barely two minutes into the third quarter.
For a few minutes, the Highlanders held the line. However, Cardinal Newman eventually went on a 16-0 run that extended into the fourth quarter. Though Piedmont did make a little run late, the Cardinals held on for a 51-45 victory.
Fourth-seeded Cardinal Newman advances to face No. 1 Acalanes on Feb. 26. No. 5 Piedmont will host No. 6 Salesian the same night in the fifth place game at 7 p.m.
Jenelle Solis directs the offense 
Cleo Afsar (black) defends Macie Flores
“Honestly, I thought we fought really hard until the end,” Martin said. “You saw how we came back. It’s all about learning, fighting through adversity and staying strong. Even though we lost, we have to keep our heads up.”
It was a tremendous defensive struggle in the first half, with Piedmont emerging with a 24-17 lead. The Highlanders held freshman center Saundra Jordan to two points on one of seven shooting from the field. Cardinal Newman was zero for seven from 3-point range and six of 21 overall from the floor.
Meantime, the Cardinals were almost as suffocating. Piedmont shot nine of 26 from the floor and one of eight from 3-point range. The Highlanders offense never got any flow and the teams combined for 17 turnovers in the half.
Cardinal Newman didn’t exactly come out firing to start the second half. But the Cardinal did make some offensive adjustments.
“In the first half, I thought they were really physical with us and pushed us off our line,” Cardinal Newman coach Monica Mertle said. “That was part of the reason why we weren’t scoring. They were playing great defense, they were walling us up, and we weren’t low and strong enough with the ball. Our big adjustment going into the second half was to get lower with our dribble, to attack through contact, not get pushed off our line by contact and I thought the girls did a great job of that.”
The other adjustment was to challenge Jordan.
“We really challenged her at halftime because we need her inside presence,” Mertle said. “We have a lot of confidence in her. At halftime we stressed how much we need her and she responded to that. That shows a lot of maturity for a young player, for a freshman. To not have a great first half, to be challenged by her coaches going into the second half, we told her we need you. And she stepped up and she had a fantastic game.”
Saunders made five of six shots in the second half including a 3-pointer and finished with 14 points to go along with 12 rebounds.
“They did a good job of getting her the ball and we didn’t really adjust,” Piedmont coach Bryan Gardere said. “We’ve been struggling with that a little bit, making in-game adjustments.”
As a team, the Cardinals made 12 of 21 shots after the break. Kate Schat led the way with 15 points and four rebounds along with two assists.
The Highlanders had a 31-28 lead before Cardinal Newman went on the 16-0 run. To its credit, Piedmont did rally in the final two minutes, getting the lead down to four. But it was just too late.
“We could have given up,” freshman point guard Jenelle Solis said. “I’m just glad that we played hardest towards the end even though we didn’t win.”
Martin eventually fouled out and finished with 10 points and nine rebounds. Solis had 12 points and four rebounds but only one assist. The Highlanders finished nine of 24 from the free throw line and missed a bunch of layups.
“We didn’t execute very well,” Gardere said. “They did a good job. Obviously when Martin gets in foul trouble, it changes. But give them credit, they did a really good job. I think (the) missed free throws and a bunch of missed layups, everything gets a little different when that happens. These are teaching moments.”
Taylor White had seven rebounds and five points for Piedmont.
The Highlanders are now 21-5 on the year. Cardinal Newman is 25-3.