Although many thought Mater Dei Catholic's girls were in position to ambush Bishop's, Michelle Brunker, a Knights senior, was not one of them.
“At 11 on Tuesday night, Michelle e-mailed me and said, 'Don't worry, Coach, we've got this,' ” Bishop's coach Marlon Wells said.
With that, Wells went to bed and got a good night's sleep.
Sure enough, with Brunker, the only senior on the team, leading the way, host Bishop's downed Mater Dei 57-42 last night, earning a berth in the section Division IV basketball final Saturday at Cox Arena.
The Knights will battle Coastal South League partner La Jolla Country Day for the third time this season starting at 8:30 a.m.
Brunker, who is headed to the University of Louisiana (Lafayette), was one of four Bishop's players to score in double figures but the only one with a double-double, adding 10 rebounds to her 12 points.
Brunker's aggressive play encouraged her teammates, who turned a close 10-9 contest late in the first quarter into a 34-17 halftime lead that ballooned to 53-27 in the fourth quarter before Mater Dei used 10 straight free throws to make the game respectable.
“We knew we had to win and my role was to not let anyone get scared,” Brunker said. “The others listen to me and we all got pumped up. If anything, we were over-prepared for them.”
Mater Dei (21-6) came into the game riding a 16-game winning streak and was unbeaten against San Diego-area teams. All of the Crusaders' losses were to strong out-of-state teams.
Bishop's (21-8) played smothering defense in building up the big lead.
When juniors Ebone Henry (16 points) and Jhazmine Lynch (13) collected three early fouls, they had to sit much of the second quarter and Bishop's took full advantage.
Freshman Alissa Campanero (14 points), Gizelle Studevent (13) and Brianna Martinez (10) supported Brunker with double-figure scoring for Bishop's.
“We learned a lot,” said Mater Dei coach David Monroe, who noted that the Crusaders also lose just one senior. “We shot ourselves out of this game.
“We played a tough schedule to prepare us just for a game like this and next year moving from the South Bay to the Mesa League will help even more. We'll be back.”
Division I
POWAY 56,
ESCONDIDO 52 (OT):
Katie Kuklok led Poway with 21 points as the top-seeded Titans (26-3) escaped in overtime.
BONITA VISTA 52,
PATRICK HENRY 45:
Danielle Boykin scored 17 points and Whitney Boykin added 14 for Bonita Vista (22-6). The Barons are seeking their first section girls basketball title, having reached the final only once, in 1983.
Division II
WESTVIEW 52, SERRA 38:
After leading by four at the half, top-seeded Westview (25-5) cruised in the final two periods. The win sets up a battle of neighborhood rivals in the championship game.
MT. CARMEL 55, RAMONA 52: Kelly Hansen had 26 points for Mt. Carmel (19-11), which led by seven at halftime.
Division III
MOUNT MIGUEL 56,
EL CAPITAN 34:
Danesia Williamson led top-seeded Mount Miguel (20-4) with 19 points. Nicole Fountain added 17 points, including five three-pointers.
CATHEDRAL CATHOLIC 77,
CANYON CREST 42:
Mackenzie Mathias scored 20 points for No. 2 Cathedral Catholic (25-3), setting up a rematch with Mount Miguel in the final. Alisha Eckberg scored 21 for Canyon Crest.
Division IV
LJCD 63, PARKER 41:
Janae Fulcher scored 25 points for top-seeded La Jolla Country Day (22-5).
Division V
ESCONDIDO ADVENTIST 40,
VINCENT MEMORIAL 39:
Jenny Buchheim scored 15 points and freshman Kaitlyn Knab added 14 to lead top-seeded Escondido Adventist (23-3). Lisette Covarrubias had 28 for Vincent.
CALVIN CHRISTIAN 42,
CHRISTIAN LIFE 36:
Alexis Manning's 15 points sparked Calvin Christian (18-8).
