The Varsity Girls Basketball team withstood a late run by Watsonville for a dramatic 55-51 overtime victory to win the West Coast Jamboree Pearl Division on its home floor, while the Varsity Boys Basketball team capped a great week of success following a 63-51 win over Rolling Hills Prep.
For the Boys, they finished the week 3-1 against some of Southern California’s top teams at The Classic at Damien. The Gaels posted other victories over powerhouse programs Etiwanda and Village Christian, as they head into the new year with one of their best ever starts at 14-1 overall. It was also a good week for the Boys Junior Varsity and Freshmen teams, finishing in 2nd and 3rd place respectively against stiff competition at local holiday tournaments.
With their 3 wins this week, the Varsity Girls Basketball team not only won the West Coast Jamboree but they also improved to 7-0 overall this season. Gaia Lembo was given the “Scoop Jackson” Most Valuable Player Award, while Zoya Nomani, Bhagya Gajula, and Addison Leomiti were given All Tournament honors.
After hitting three 3-pointers to get the Gaels off to a fast start in their semifinal win over Sacramento, Leomiti once again took charge early by scoring 8 of Dublin’s 9 points in the game’s opening quarter (including two 3-pointers). Dublin would lead throughout the entire contest, but Watsonville never allowed their deficit to get above 8 points as the Gaels’ largest leads were 22-14 (late 2nd quarter) and 29-21 (mid 3rd quarter). The Wildcatz trailed 44-39 with less than 2 minutes remaining, but outscored the Gaels 6-1 in the final minutes of regulation to force overtime.
Gajula scored the first 4 points for the Gaels in the extra period, and then Nomani hit a 3-pointer with 1:33 remaining to give the Gaels the lead for good at 52-49. Lembo and freshmen Taylor Sullivan hit pivotal free throws in the game’s final seconds to seal the win.
Leomiti led the Gaels with 15 points and finished in double figures for all three games of the tournament, as did Lembo who tallied 14 points on Monday (all in the 2nd half or overtime). Gajula also scored all 9 of her points in the 2nd half and made some pivotal defensive plays in the 4th quarter and overtime to help Dublin win the title.
The Varsity Girls will be back in action for a stretch of three home games in four days, as they get set to host College Park on Friday, January 3rd (5:00/6:30), Turlock on Saturday, January 4th (1:30/3:00), and Mt. Diablo on Monday, January 6th (4:00/5:30). The Freshmen Boys will participate in the Aragon Tournament from January 2-4, while the JV and Varsity Boys are off until their East Bay Athletic League opener at Livermore on January 10th.
