Highlanders lose at Carondelet. They host Clayton Valley in the third place game on February 27 at 7 p.m.
It was going to be a tall order for Piedmont High School’s girls basketball team at Carondelet on February 25. The Highlanders, already playing a seven-player rotation, lost sophomore starting power forward Savannah Dennig to a sprained Achilles tendon out of their first round North Coast Section Open Division playoff win over Cardinal Newman.
Yet there was third-seeded Piedmont playing its collective heart out in the first half, leading by nine early on and up eight at the break.
Alas, they knew what they were up against in the No. 2 Cougars. Carondelet opened the second half on a 13-0 run, taking the lead for good in a 52-39 win in the Open semifinal. The Cougars advanced to the championship game on February 28 against top seed San Ramon Valley at Dublin High at 7 p.m. The Highlanders will host Clayton Valley on February 27 at 7 p.m. in the third place game. All Open Division teams have already qualified for the California Interscholastic Federation tournament, which begins March 3.
“We knew the run was going to come,” Piedmont coach Bryan Gardere said. He had told his team that in the locker room at halftime.
“Coach even said, ‘Carondelet’s a good team,’” point guard Jenelle Solis said. “’We’re in playoffs for NCS. They’re going to make a run. What matters is how we respond to it.’ And unfortunately, we just didn’t respond to it in the way that we needed to.”
Andrea Martin scored seven of her 13 points in the opening quarter as the Highlanders built a 10-1 lead in the early going. Piedmont settled into a 2-3 zone but the Cougars were just off from the start: After winning the opening tip, Carondelet’s first pass of the game, from Niylah Christopher to Maleika Brown sailed out of bounds when the latter broke the opposite way that Christopher thought she would.
The Highlanders got up nine again at 16-7 in the second quarter and led 22-14 at halftime. However, while the Cougars had 14 turnovers in the first half, Piedmont had 11. The Highlanders got in foul trouble with Taylor White picking up three in the first quarter. They also struggled to make baskets, including from close in – Piedmont made eight of 26 shots from the floor. Better offense could have meant a much bigger cushion at the break.
Carondelet’s Celeste Alvarez (20) plays keepaway from Piedmont’s Saniyah Johnson (32). 
Jaden Jones (0, back) attempts to inbound the ball while (L-R) Andrea Martin (1), Thalia Pham (24), Sawyer Fogel (30) and Janelle Solis (22) battle for position. 
Andrea Martin focusses while looking for a teammate to pass to during a game at Carondelet. 
Taylor White grimaces while watching the path of her shot in a 52-39 NCS Open Division playoff loss at Carondelet. 
Piedmont’s Jaden Jones (0) directs traffic while Jenelle Solis (22 black) guards Carondelet’s Maleika Brown (22 white). Brown finished with 14 points in a 52-39 Cougars win.
“For both teams, it was sloppy,” Solis said. “I don’t even know what it was, everyone was just everywhere. I feel we should have had a better lead. Knowing Carondelet always hits their shots, they weren’t hitting. We had to convert on those layups. As a team, we’ve just got to get better.”
Gardere answered, “Tons,” when asked about missed opportunities in the first half.
“We didn’t score the way I thought we were capable of scoring,” he said. “It should have been (up) 12 or 15. They did a good job keeping it close even though they weren’t shooting and turning it over.”
Brown hit a couple of 3-pointers to get the run going for the Cougars. Celeste Alvarez had six of her 16 points during the third quarter.
“Our energy really changed,” Alvarez said. “The first half, I feel the first couple of mistakes we made, it really brought us down. This season, as a team, we’ve been working on bringing the morale of the team up. It’s just a constant state of picking each other up.”
“I feel that’s what we did. After mistakes, we stopped putting our heads down and got to work instead.”
Carondelet coach Kelly Sopak didn’t make a firery halftime speech. In fact, the Cougars were back on the court almost immediately.
“I’m going to be honest, nothing was said at halftime,” Alvarez said. “That’s not typical of our team. We actually haven’t done that all year. I think Kelly realized in the locker room that it’s our team at the end of the day. The players, we’re the ones on the court. However much as he tries to coach us or not coach us, not saying anything, at the end of the day, it’s us that’s playing this game.”
Alvarez also had 14 rebounds, as Carondelet outrebounded Piedmont, 46-26. The Cougars dominated the boards in the second half, 25-7 and had an obscene 17-1 advantage in the third quarter.
Brown had 14 points and Janel Nevares had nine, all coming in the fourth quarter as Carondelet pulled away. Olivia Smith had nine rebounds.
Martin had eight rebounds for the Highlanders. Alexa Ba finished with 11 points and five rebounds.