Warriors win CIF girls basketball championship

Joe Naiman

Village News Reporter

Fallbrook High School's girls basketball team won the CIF San Diego Section Division II girls basketball championship. The final was played Feb. 25 at San Marcos High School. The Warriors defeated Imperial by a 29-23 margin.

"That was something that they had their hearts set on, and they came out and played that way," said Fallbrook coach Trae Harrison.

Last year, the Warriors reached the CIF final and lost by one point. "They remembered what it felt like last year," Harrison said. "They didn't want that."

Fallbrook hosted Eastlake in the Feb. 23 semifinal which ended as a 47-26 Warriors win. "We came out ready. We were focused. Our shots were falling. It was a good game. We knew it was going to be tough and competitive, but our game plan worked flawlessly," Harrison said. "We played as a team."

The Warriors had leads of 16-9 after one quarter, 24-16 at halftime, and 35-19 after three periods. "We locked down our defense in the third," Harrison said.

A balance had to be achieved with the fourth-quarter lead. "It's about clock management and taking care of the ball," Harrison said. "What I hate to do is pull them away, pull them back."

Harrison knew that Eastlake could take advantage of a Fallbrook letdown. "They had a couple of girls who could really score, " he said.

"We still applied pressure," Harrison said. "We pressed through the fourth quarter."

Harrison and his players knew that the Titans would attempt three-point shots in an effort to catch up. "They did well. We kept their three-point shooters out of it," he said.

Not allowing second chances was also a factor in the Warriors' victory. "We just rebounded well," Harrison said.

Fallbrook overcame deficits to defeat Imperial in the final. "We struggled offensively big-time, but we matched up with them very well. We do a lot of the same things, so a lot of our game was exactly the same, " Harrison said.

"We just didn't shoot well at all that game. It was just a tough game," Harrison said. "We were just stopped at that point to where we couldn't score."

Imperial held a 9-5 lead after one quarter. The score was 15-15 at halftime and 20-20 at the end of the third period. "It was close throughout for sure," Harrison said.

The CIF championship thus came down to the fourth quarter. "We were going back and forth, " Harrison said.

The Warriors trailed before Naiya Kurnik sank a three-point shot and Julianna Blas made two free throws. "At that point we were up by four," Harrison said. "We knew whichever team was up by four late in the game was going to win the game."

With nine seconds remaining, Fallbrook obtained possession and ran out the clock.

The CIF championship win gave Fallbrook a season record of 24-6. The CIF girls basketball championship is the first for Fallbrook since 1982. "Now the girls get to say we're part of history," Harrison said.