GIRLS BASKETBALL: Santa Cruz Storms Past Branham

Santa Cruz 72, Branham 31

The Star: Santa Cruz junior Ashley Claussen orchestrated the fast break beautifully all evening long. The speedy point guard scored a game-high 23 points in only three quarters of play. Junior Pauli Pappas had 11 points and senior forward Sheena Conroe had 10 points in the Central Coast Section Division III Girls Basketball playoff game Thursday night at Santa Cruz High.

La Kayla McCowan led the Bruins with 10 points. Starting point guard Angela Ingram had eight points and freshman center Maya Ferguson finished with seven points.

 The Turning Point: A 14-2 Santa Cruz (18-8 overall) advantage was trimmed down to only two points at the end of the first quarter. Maya Ferguson capped off the surge with a buzzer beating two-point shot inside the key. Regrouping after the Branham comeback, the Cardinals exploded in the second quarter. Dominant on both sides of the ball, Santa Cruz outscored Branham 28-4 in the second quarter to take a 42-16 lead into the half. The full court pressure led to several easy buckets as Claussen (11 points) and Pappas (10 points) both had double digit point efforts in the first half.

The Quote: “You can tell they work very hard on their pressure,” Branham head coach Sam Hernandez said about the relentless full court press unleashed by Santa Cruz on Thursday night. “They have a tradition of winning and working hard. We felt we had to slow the pace down. They dictated the pace tonight.”

 Minus senior starter Angela Ingram, the core of the Branham starting lineup will be back next season. Sophomore wing Taylor Morway, freshman center Maya Ferguson and sophomore forward La Kayla McCowan make up a nice returning trio for the Bruins.

 “We have a young team,” Hernandez said. “Hopefully we can learn from this.”

 What's Next? Santa Cruz, the No. 6 seed in the Division III bracket, will play No. 3 seed Valley Christian-San Jose on Saturday at Aptos High. Valley Christian Is one of three West Catholic Athletic League teams seeded in the top four in the D-III tournament.

Branham, the No. 11 seed, defeated North Monterey County 63-58 on Tuesday night in round one play. The Bruins finished the regular season in fourth place in the Blossom Valley Athletic League Santa Teresa Division.

Bottom Line: The visitors put together a spurt late in the first quarter and found themselves right in the thick of the ball game. However, the more experienced Santa Cruz lineup proved to be too much to handle. Turnovers crippled the Bruins in the second and third quarters. The host Cardinals forced a bushel of errors and was able to make the most of their opportunities in the second round playoff bout.

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