SAN JOSÉ — Archbishop Mitty is back in the Central Coast Section Open Division girls basketball final, and this time it won’t be against Pinewood.
The Monarchs instead played their longtime postseason rival in the third round of pool play, which in reality was a de facto semifinal.
Pinewood, as usual, brought a level of skill to the court that Mitty does not often see during the regular season. But the Monarchs, as usual, brought more skill and lots of size.
Mitty prevailed on its home court 86-58 behind 26 points from sophomore sensation McKenna Woliczko and 19 points from senior Elana Weisman. The Monarchs, winners of Pool A, will play Pool B winner St. Ignatius for the championship on Friday night at Santa Clara University.
Weisman sizzled from the start, hitting two 3-pointers and scoring 10 points in the opening quarter as Mitty (27-0) charged to a 22-10 lead. Woliczko got going later in the first period and didn’t slow down, showing off her athleticism and ability to consistently knock shots off the glass near the basket and swish buckets from mid-range.
“We’ve got a group who can score,” Mitty coach Sue Phillips said. “We don’t beat Long Island Lutheran in December if we don’t score with them. I thought that was a critical component and yet we’ve held over half of our opponents to their lowest-scoring totals on the year. We can put that together.
“Pinewood is slippery. You pick your poison with that group. They can take you to the hoop or drain their threes. Kudos to them. That’s a tough team. But we’re happy we’ve punched our ticket for Friday.”
Mitty, ranked No. 1 in the country, will be aiming for its eighth CCS Open Division title in the past nine seasons. All of the championships have come at Pinewood’s expense. The Los Altos Hills powerhouse saw its streak of nine consecutive trips to the Open final end with the loss on Wednesday.
Pinewood (21-6) never got to within single digits in the second half, but the Panthers showed no fear as they made numerous drives to the hoop and buried nine 3-pointers.
Alex Facelo made five shots from beyond the arc and finished with 17 points to lead Pinewood. The Panthers also got 13 points apiece from Caitlyn Kramer and Vallory Kuelker.
They will now get ready for NorCals as all eight teams that made the CCS Open advance.
“I loved our fight,” Pinewood coach Doc Scheppler said. “It’s not about them. It’s about us. I liked how our point guard played. I thought we got shots. Missed some finishes. Had some stretches where we turned it over, gave easy baskets. You don’t box them out, they’re going to make you pay.
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“Any time you play Mitty, it’s all about minimizing the easy baskets. The put backs. The post ups, and the transition layups after turnovers. If you can minimize those things like we’ve done in the past, we can play with anybody. The good news is I think it showed our girls that you’re really good.”
Yes, it did.
But Mitty has been better than really good all season and might get even stronger soon.
Morgan Cheli, the San Jose juggernaut’s UConn-bound McDonald’s All-American, is nearing a return from injury. The senior suited up Wednesday and took part in warmups but did not get into the game.
“Morgan is close,” Phillips said. “Maybe Friday, maybe next week. Again, you’ve got a McDonald’s All-American who is going to play at UConn and there is no sense of rushing her back. It was great having her out there with us at shootaround today. We’re a different team without her, but it’s also allowed us to grow in other ways with our guard play.”
