BHS girls basketball stay alive, head into state playoffs

BARSTOW • What looked like the end of the season for the Barstow High School girls basketball team turned into a mere seven-day vacation Sunday evening.

The Aztecs advanced to the CIF-Southern Section semifinals, and were knocked out in a 57-39 loss to Muir at home in the CIF-Southern Section Division III AA semifinals on February 27. Barstow coach Derrick Delton said he was disappointed, but simply making the semifinals was the highest level the girls program had achieved. The practices and games stopped for the Aztecs, while Muir went on to the finals.

That all changed when Delton received the call he had hoped for Sunday night. CIF gave the Aztecs an at-large bid for the CIF State Girls Division III Basketball Championships. Barstow, the No. 10 seed in the Southern California bracket, will travel to face Ridgeview, the No. 7 seed in the Southern California bracket, in Bakersfield at 6 p.m. today.

The number of teams selected from each CIF section is based on the number of schools in a team’s division. A division with 24 or fewer schools gets two entries, a division with 70 or fewer gets four entries and a division with more than 70 gets eight entries. The CIF-SS is the most represented section in the girls division III state championships with eight teams earning a spot.

“I had been looking back at Muir’s last few years and they had lost in the (semifinals) and made it to state so I knew we had a chance,” Delton said. “It’s a sign of respect and recognition of what we have been able to do this season.”

Delton’s first move after getting the call was to let his team know and arrange a practice. Barstow’s forward Nicole Matthews was overwhelmed by the news.

“Coach D(elton) texted us Sunday night saying that we were playing Tuesday and we had a mandatory practice today at 4:30,” Matthews said. “I was like ‘Oh my gosh’ we have a second chance.”

Delton and Matthews said they plan on making the most of the second chance when they face Ridgeview, the Central Section champions. However, they will have to stop the Wolf Pack’s offensive duo of Erica McCall and Lydia Pope to do that. McCall, a six-foot-two center, averages 18 points and 14 rebounds a game. Pope is averaging 13 points a game.

“(McCall) does a lot for us,” Ridgeview coach Michael Martin said. “She’s kind of our workhorse.”

Although the Wolf Pack have weapons in McCall and Pope, they only have two other players that averages five or more points a game, and the scoring drops to a point per game from most of the team after that. Delton said the Aztecs are going to continue to play full court press and keep the tempo up against Ridgeview. He said he hopes his team can contain McCall and Pope by tiring the center down and forcing Pope to make mistakes. Pope averages more than one turnover a game this season. She only trails freshman Alex Green, who has 41 turnovers, for the most on the season.

Barstow has been led by Nisha Barrett throughout the season, but the team has spread the scoring around during the season. Barrett averages 17 points and 12 rebounds a game. The Aztecs’ other post players, Kaitlyn Parks, Elizabeth Rivero and Megan Peacock, combine for 13 points and 16 rebounds a game compared with six points and seven rebounds a game from McCall’s help.

Barstow’s guards also split the labor. Cherelle Green leads the guards with nine points a game, but Kiana Duran and Stefanie Dado each average seven points a game.

Martin said he will try to stop Barstow’s offense with a man defense, but won’t play the full court press often. He said from the little he has learned the teams appear to be evenly matched.

“It looks like it will be a close game,” Martin said. “We seem to have similar styles of play with our big post players. It should be interesting. I guess that’s what you get with the No. 7 playing the No. 10 in the tournament.”

The winner of today’s game will face  either Lutheran/Orange or Mt. Miguel/Spring Valley on Thursday. If Mt. Miguel/Spring Valley wins it will host the second round game, and if Lutheran/Orange wins then Barstow or Ridgeview will host the game at 7 p.m. on Thursday.