Warriors one point short of CIF girls basketball championship

A one-point loss in the championship game deprived Fallbrook High School of the CIF Division III girls basketball championship honor.

St. Joseph Academy took a lead with 1:05 left in the June 10 final at St. Augustine High School and staved off a potential Warrior comeback for the 45-44 victory.

"We were young, made some mistakes," said Fallbrook coach Trae Harrison.

"We had a bunch of mental lapses," Harrison said. "We didn't play with the right mindset."

The top two seeds in the Division III playoffs received first-round byes. Fallbrook was seeded first and St. Joseph had the second seed. The Warriors won the Valley League championship with a 10-0 record in league play and ended the regular season with a 19-7 overall mark.

Ninth-seeded Santana defeated eighth-seeded Castle Park in the first round, so Santana traveled to Fallbrook for the June 5 quarterfinal. The Warriors scored all five points in the first quarter and led the Sultans by a 24-4 margin at halftime.

"We came out and played well. They were ready to go," Harrison said.

The final score was 51-16. Junior point guard Naiya Kurnik led the team with 13 points; junior Elley Ahrend scored 11 points; freshman Claire Nordeen contributed nine points, and sophomore Liz Villigran provided eight points. Ahrend led the Warriors with four assists.

Fallbrook had 51 rebounds as well as 51 points with 30 of those being offensive rebounds and 21 being defensive boards. Nordeen had 20 of those, consisting of 10 offensive and 10 defensive rebounds. Ahrend's 10 rebounds were also split evenly between offensive and defensive, as were Kurnik's six boards.

The 21 team steals included six by junior Juliana Blas, four apiece by Ahrend and Nordeen, and three by sophomore Brooke Quintana. Ahrend added three blocks.

Mount Carmel, Ramona, and Valley Center shared second place in the final Valley League standings with 6-4 records. Ramona was given the fourth seed in the Division III playoffs but lost a 36-30 quarterfinal to fifth-seeded Sage Creek, so the Bobcats played Fallbrook in the June 8 semifinal.

"It was a game we were looking forward to," Harrison said.

On April 23, Fallbrook hosted Sage Creek and obtained a 53-35 victory. The two teams played May 6 at Sage Creek, and the Bobcats overcame a halftime deficit for a 24-23 triumph. That was the Warriors' final loss of the regular season.

The May 6 loss snapped Fallbrook's seven-game winning streak. The 52-29 triumph June 8 extended the Warriors' new streak to 10 consecutive victories. Fallbrook outscored the Bobcats by a 22-5 margin in the first period and had a 31-7 halftime advantage.

"We were ready for that one," Harrison said. "They came out and played really well against them. They were focused. They played with a lot of intensity and grit."

Kurnik scored 28 of the Warriors' points, making seven of eight shots from the field including both of her three-point attempts and 12 of her 14 free throws. Kurnik also led the team with five assists and with three steals. Ahrend scored eight points, Blas had seven points, and Nordeen added six points.

The 41 team rebounds included five offensive and seven defensive ones by Ahrend, two offensive and eight defensive boards by Kurnik, and eight rebounds by Nordeen split evenly between offensive and defensive. Fallbrook's 10 deflections included two apiece by Kurnik, Quintana, Ahrend, and Villigran.

The season's previous game between Fallbrook and St. Joseph was a 57-42 Fallbrook victory May 5 on the Crusaders' court. The Warriors could not repeat that success in the CIF final. "We came out a little too confident," Harrison said.

St. Joseph held a 13-12 lead at the end of the first quarter. Fallbrook had a 23-21 halftime advantage. "We were going back and forth the whole game," Harrison said.

A 15-9 scoring advantage in the third period gave the Warriors a 38-30 lead when the buzzer sounded. "We took a big lead in the third," Harrison said. "We were up a lot of the game."

The Crusaders scored 15 of the 21 total fourth-quarter points and turned the one-point deficit into a two-point lead with the shot taken from behind the three-point arc. "They hit that three-pointer that sank off the glass," Harrison said. "We were still in it."

The Warriors did not score on their next possession. The Crusaders scored their final point on a free throw with approximately 15 seconds left, giving Fallbrook an opportunity to tie the game with a successful three-point attempt.

"We got a good shot off. It rimmed out. We got the rebound," Harrison said.

The Warriors were unable to take a three-point shot and settled for a layup basket which left them down by one. Committing a foul which would send St. Joseph to the free throw line but stop the clock was Fallbrook's remaining hope.

"We didn't foul quick enough, and that was the game," Harrison said.

The Crusaders had 14 offensive and 21 defensive rebounds for a total of 35. The Warriors' 26 rebounds consisted of eight offensive and 18 defensive ones.

St. Joseph improved its season record to 23-2 with the win. The Crusaders were 8-0 in Citrus League play.

Fallbrook had only one senior, whose injury prevented her from being on the court during the playoffs, and Harrison believes that the championship game loss will be a lesson for 2021-22. "The girls' mindset has changed completely," he said. They're really resilient. They understand that every mistake, every loss is a learning experience."

The CIF championship game was the first for Fallbrook since the 1987-88 team reached the Division II final. The league championship is the first for Fallbrook girls basketball since the Warriors shared the 2016-17 Valley League championship and the first outright league championship since the 2006-07 Avocado League season. The loss to St. Joseph in the championship game gave Fallbrook a 21-8 season record.

"We had a successful season," Harrison said.