Lady Warrior hoopsters reach finals of Bonita tournament

Fallbrook High School’s girls basketball team reached the finals of the Bonita Vista Optimists Tournament before a 41-37 loss to San Diego in the championship game December 30.

The loss also broke a 12-game winning streak for the Warriors, the longest streak since third-year coach Len Whitacre took over the program. Those wins included four in the Banning Kiwanis Tournament played December 18-21 which produced a tournament championship for Fallbrook. “The more you win in a tournament usually the tougher the competition gets,” Whitacre said. “It was a successful accomplishment for our group.”

Fallbrook won the first three games of the December 27-30 Bonita tournament. The Warriors opened with a 71-42 win December 27 over Asker, who was visiting from Norway.

“It’s pretty unusual to play a foreign team, so it was a pretty interesting event. They spoke much better English than we spoke Norwegian,” Whitacre said.

That meant that Asker could understand Fallbrook’s court commands while the Warriors couldn’t decipher instructions to the Norwegian team. “I couldn’t understand the numbers or anything,” Whitacre said.

Asker, which defeated host Bonita Vista in a subsequent game, also played well on the court. “They all handled the ball very well,” Whitacre said. “They all were very good at dribbling to the rim and being aggressive with the ball, and it took a little while to adjust to their aggressiveness.”

Fallbrook had a 19-16 lead after the first quarter but outscored Asker 21-6 in the second period. “We decided that we would pick them up full court, put a lot more pressure on them and not let them play their half-court offense,” Whitacre said. “We tried to stretch the defense to a full-court defense and let them have less time on the play clock when they got to half court.”

The 50-22 halftime lead turned into a 61-36 margin after three quarters. Whitacre slowed the pace in the fourth period, in which the Warriors outscored Asker by a 10-6 margin. “We’re trying to make more passes and get closer shots,” he said. “We’re not trying to run the score up. We’re just trying to play conservative, solid basketball.”

Tiffany Hunter had 23 points, seven rebounds, seven steals, and five assists against Asker. Katie Gangnath tallied 14 points, six assists, and four steals along with three rebounds. Emily Armstrong brought down seven rebounds and Natalie Zepeda contributed four steals and four assists.

Fallbrook then played Bonita Vista in a December 28 match. “It was a good contest,” Whitacre said. “They were a good team and they had an exceptional player.

Fallbrook led 15-12 after the first quarter and 29-21 at halftime. Bonita Vista outscored the Warriors 13-9 in the third period, but Fallbrook scored 20 of the first 23 points in the fourth quarter for a 58-37 lead.

After Fallbrook had inserted substitutes, Bonita Vista scored the game’s final nine points. “They decided to press us real hard at the end,” Whitacre said.

“I like that,” Whitacre said of his second-stringers being fed full pressure. “That makes them better basketball players this year and next year.”

Hunter led the scoring in the 58-46 victory, tallying 17 points and also adding 12 rebounds, five assists, and four steals. Gangnath had 12 points, six rebounds, four assists, and four steals. Marshai Iverson added 11 points along with five rebounds and three blocked shots while Zepeda complemented nine points with six assists.

The eight-team tournament saw the two pool play winners compete in the championship match, and since Fallbrook and Mira Mesa had both been successful in their first two games the December 29 contest between the Warriors and the Marauders was for the pool championship and a trip to the finals.

“We really expected a much closer contest,” Whitacre said. “I really don’t know what happened.”

The 63-39 win saw Fallbrook lead 19-9 after the first quarter, 34-16 at halftime, and 56-25 after three periods. “It wasn’t in doubt,” Whitacre said.

“I think they tried to press us and we did a nice job of handling the full-court press and were making shots and things were going the right way,” Whitacre said. “Pretty much everything that we tried worked.”

Although Fallbrook only made 24 of 71 shots, the Warriors accumulated 32 offensive rebounds and 61 total rebounds. Fallbrook also had 17 steals. “That was one of those nights when everything was working,” Whitacre said.

Hunter tallied 18 points, 17 rebounds, seven steals, and four assists during Fallbrook’s 12th straight win. Armstrong contributed 12 points and 14 rebounds, including nine offensive boards. Gangnath had 12 points, four assists, and four steals.

In the championship game Fallbrook was held to under 40 points for just the second time all season. “They were very physical and played great defense, but we missed some shots that sometimes we make,” Whitacre said. “From night to night the number of shots that we make from similar positions on the court will vary.”

Fallbrook made 13 of 60 shots and missed all ten three-point attempts. “I think that’s why we lost,” Whitacre said.

San Diego had a 14-8 lead after the first period. “They’re athletic and quick, and they had a lot of things going for them,” Whitacre said of the Cavers.

Fallbrook outscored the Cavers 14-13 in the second quarter while San Diego scored six of the 11 third-quarter points. Fallbrook had a 10-8 scoring edge in the fourth period.

“We finished that game with tremendous defense,” Whitacre said. “They had enough of a lead to withstand our defensive effort.”

The Warriors had a total of 18 turnovers, seven fewer than in the Mira Mesa win. “We didn’t give them any baskets off of our mistakes,” Whitacre said. “We just played some spectacular defense.”

Fallbrook had a total of eight blocked shots. “We weren’t making shots and we were keeping them from making shots,” Whitacre said. “We had our chances.”

The blocked shots consisted of two apiece from Armstrong, Gangnath, Hunter, and Iverson. Hunter also tallied 13 points and ten rebounds while Brooke Harlin put up ten points and grabbed 11 rebounds. Gangnath led the team with five assists while Zepeda had four of Fallbrook’s six steals.

Her performance in the finals earned Harlin, a third guard, a spot on the ten-member all-tournament team. “She does a great job getting in passing lanes,” Whitacre said. “She had a great tournament.”

Armstrong also made the all-tournament team. “She was probably the key ingredient to our beating Mira Mesa as handily as we did. She was just unstoppable,” Whitacre said.

Hunter, who was the only Warrior on the Banning Kiwanis Tournament all-tournament team and was that tournament’s Most Valuable Player, made her second all-tournament team of the season at Bonita. “She, with one or two exceptions, has played very well in every game we’ve played so far,” Whitacre said.

That gave Fallbrook three members on the all-tournament team while each of the other seven schools had one member apiece. “Pretty unusual. Usually you think if you’ve got two you did pretty well,” Whitacre said.

The opposing coaches vote for the all-tournament teams. Whitacre also cited the play of Gangnath and Iverson. “I was very pleased with the players,” he said. “It’s pretty cool when we can have different players contribute in different tournaments.”