Highlanders advance in state
“Excuse me,” Piedmont High School girls basketball Bryan Gardere called out to Andrea Martin after finding out his sophomore star had scored 32 points in a 63-57 win over Antelope. “Excuse me!”
Martin came over and got a hug from her very happy coach.
“I didn’t know she had 32! Thirty-two? Let’s go!”
The win came on March 3 at Binks Gymnasium in the first round of the California Interscholastic Federation Division 1 playoffs. The third-seeded Highlanders (22-4) advance to the second round, where they will host No. 6 Central East-Fresno on March 5 at 7 p.m.
Martin also had eight rebounds.
“This was a game that was win or go home,” Martin said. “We came out today to play hard and hopefully have another practice tomorrow which we are! We have a senior on our team (Saniyah Johnson) so we were thinking about making sure she had another game to go to and another practice to go to.”
Andrea Martin (1) leads a fast break with teammate Jenelle Solis and Antelope’s Semiyah Brown (3) in the back. Martin scored 32 points to lead the Highlanders to a playoff win.
Martin had 17 of her points in the first half, which was most of the offense as the Highlanders trailed 32-30 at the break. Martin made four of her seven shots from the field and all six of her free throws in the first half. The rest of the team made four of 15 shots and three of eight free throws.
In the second half, Alexa Ba got going in the second half, scoring nine of her 11 points.
“They started catching on, so our other players had to start waking up and getting the ball to the basket, stepping up and helping me out on the scoring because I can’t do it all,” Martin said.
Said Ba, “I thought I shot better. I’m usually cold in the first half.”
Antelope’s Kamaria Charlo (back) looks to pass out of trouble in a CIF Division 1 playoff game at Binks Gymnasium on March 3. Charlo scored 22 points but fouled out of the game.
The Titans (25-6) were led by Kamaria Charlo, who scored 20 of her 22 points in the first half. However, she got in foul trouble, picking up her fourth with four minutes, 11 seconds to go in the third quarter. Antelope led 39-33 at the time.
Piedmont responded with a 21-7 run into the fourth quarter. Martin hit a 3-pointer and a 2-pointer during the run. Then, Taylor White, who doesn’t shoot a whole lot of 3-pointers, buried one from the left side.
Taylor White (2) scoops a shot over Antelope’s Izabella Siegler (10) during a CIF playoff game.
“She had good legs that time,” Gardere said. “I was standing right here (at the end of the bench near the baseline – more about that in a second). When it left her hand, I said, ‘Oh! That’s all cash!’”
Said White, “The three? Jenelle (Solis) passed me the ball from the wing and I was open in the corner. I kind of let it fly. It felt right, it felt good.”
Solis followed that up with another 3-pointer and the lead was 47-46 at the end of the third quarter. By the time Martin made one of two free throws with 5:23 to go in regulation, the Highlanders were up, 54-46. Charlo had just fouled out and the Antelope offense struggled without her on the court.
Gardere had switched to a 2-3 zone in the second half – something Piedmont doesn’t do a lot of. One reason probably is the absence of power forward Savannah Dennig, who is out for the season with a sprained Achilles. The Highlanders once again missed her rebounding, as the Titans held a 41-26 advantage.
The zone was a dangerous move against a team that is strong shooting 3-pointers. Charlo finished four of four from long range but the rest of the team was three of 13. Londyn Odom finished with 10 points and eight rebounds. Callia Johnson had six points and seven rebounds.
Jaden Jones (0) defends Antelope’s Callia Johnson (11) in a 63-57 Highlanders victory. Piedmont next hosts Central East-Fresno on March 5 in the CIF playoffs.
White had another gritty game, scoring six points with nine rebounds and eight assists. Piedmont forced 16 turnovers. The Highlanders had just nine.
Gardere was warned early in the game for being out of his coaching box at the far end of the court near the baseline.
East Central beat Pinewood, 63-53. On the other side of the bracket, fifteenth-seeded Bishop O’Dowd beat No. 2 Riordan, 66-56. That means if Piedmont beats East Central, it would host the regional semifinal on March 7.
Antelope’s Londyn Odom (24) tries to get a shot off over Piedmont’s Samiyah Johnson (32) during the Highlanders 63-57 CIF Division 1 first round playoff win at Binks Gymnasium.