Bell-Jefferson 61, Santa Clara (Oxnard) 31
Southern Section Girls Playoff Coverage
Jack Pollon
March 7, 2009
One year older, one year wiser, one year more experienced and one year better, Bell-Jeff of Burbank finally got its elusive Southern Section championship.
The top-seeded Guards (30-1) were dominant from start to finish in a 61-31 Division V-A victory against No. 3 Santa Clara of Oxnard at Mater Dei of Santa Ana.
The win not only gave Bell-Jeff its first title since 1997 in three appearances but reversed a blowout loss against St. Mary’s Academy of Inglewood in last years Div. IV-AA championship at The Pyramid in Long Beach.
Shelley Gupilan scored 19 points, Margeaux Gupilan had 13 and Elizabeth Hawthorne had 11 to Bell-Jeff.
“We were ready,” Gupilan said. “We have been through this before. We were more conditioned. We have been in these types of games.”
The Guards full-court press was working to perfection forcing Santa Clara into turnovers or quick shots on offense.
Hawthorne made two 3-pointers in the first quarter and the Gupilans combined for 13 points in the second quarter.
Bell-Jeff pulled away with a 17-6 run in the third quarter after Santa Clara cut the deficit to 33-21 two minutes in.
“We just try and wear opponents down,” Bell-Jeff coach Bryan Camacho said. “We play 32 minutes and take pride in that. The girls were ready and confident and played unselfish.”
The Guards were superior in every statistical category.
They out rebounded the Saints (24-4), made more free throws, had a 12-4 advantage in assists, 14-9 in steals, 4-0 in blocks and had 10 less turnovers.
“I thought we were the only team that played like that,” Santa Clara coach Ruben Marin said. “We couldn’t handle the pressure. We were overwhelmed by the experience. They looked like they had been here.”
Nine players scored for Santa Clara but none scored more than seven points. The Saints were 10 of 43 from the field and had three quarters scoring in single digits.
Shelley Gupilan had seven rebounds and three steals for Bell-Jeff and Julia Tani had five assists and three steals.
“The camaraderie and unselfish attitude won it for us,” Camacho said. “The girls have a belief in each other. Our driving force and crying call all year has been to get a ring. The schedule we played prepared
us for this.”
Bell-Jeff will now takes its 30-1 record into next weeks Div. V state playoffs. The Guards are the top-ranked team in the state in Div. V according to Cal-hi sports and only have one blemish, a one-point
loss to Montclair Prep of Panorama City in the finals of its own holiday tournament on Dec. 30.