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Pinewood and Priory were tied at the top of the West Bay Athletic League girls basketball standings at 3-0 heading into Thursday’s game.
However, Pinewood demonstrated conclusively that those records were pretty much the only point of resemblance between the two teams, having absolutely no trouble in racing to a 66-25 victory in a game that started at 4 p.m. Thursday at Pinewood.
In four games this season Pinewood, which has become an elite program at the highest level of California girls basketball, winners of two of the last three Northern California Open Division championships, has outscored its opponents 291-90. An average score in a Pinewood game is 73-23, thus far this season.
Pinewood didn’t make a 3-pointer until Annika Decker drained one in the final seconds of the first quarter, but still led 11-4 at quarter’s end.
That turned out to be the calm before the storm. Pinewood made 8 of 14 shots in the second quarter, including five 3-pointers, and led 32-9 at halftime. Courtni Thompson scored the first eight points of the quarter and Una Jovanovic accounted for the final 13.
“After that first quarter we let it rain,’’ Pinewood coach Doc Scheppler said. “The forecast for Los Altos Hills was for rain at 4 p.m., but it didn’t hit land until 4:25.’’
The score was 50-16 after three quarters as Pinewood continued to steadily pull away in the second half.
Jovanovic with 23 points and Thompson with 13 were the only players in double figures, but four other players connected on 3-pointers as Pinewood finished with 12 of its 26 field goals from behind the 3-point arc.
Pinewood is known for its 3-point shooting and high-powered offense in general. The way the program plays defense is often overlooked.
“Defensively we had the right game plan to take away their strengths,’’ Scheppler said, mentioning Aliyah Augmon’s penetration ability, Pinewood-transfer Valentina Saric’s 3-point shooting and the pick and roll run by Augmon and Bineta Diatta. “Their 3-point shooters need a little bit of time, so we flew at them.’’
Priory was 2 of 14 shooting in the first quarter, with eight turnovers and 4 of 30 shooting by halftime.
“Eight turnovers in the first quarter, that’s the difference in the game,’’ Priory coach Buck Matthews said. “We didn’t make shots, couldn’t make baskets. That’s a testament to their great defense. We didn’t have a lot of energy, gave them multiple opportunities and I’ll take the blame for that. We’ll see them later at Priory.’’
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