A last-second shot to tie the game against Priory came a moment too late for the Pinewood girls basketball team, with a midrange jumper from Pinewood guard Abigail Yew ruled no good after the buzzer in an exciting game Friday night.
“Really proud of our girls,” Pinewood coach Doc Scheppler said after the game. “That’s the main takeaway from this, how proud we are of our girls, how hard they played, it was a great high school game.”
It was a tough one to lose for Pinewood in a likely West Bay Foothill Division league title decider, with the young Panthers team clawing its way back into the game several times to give themselves a chance on the last play, down 42-40. Priory pressed Pinewood on the throw-in with 10 seconds left, with Pinewood getting the ball up the court for an open three-point shot with a few seconds left that rolled around and fell out to Yew, who caught and heaved the ball into the bucket.
We are really happy that we created that look,” Scheppler said.
Scheppler noted the team had chances to tie the game or take the lead in the fourth quarter after two Priory turnovers allowed Pinewood to cut a five-point deficit to 42-40 with a little under two minutes left. Pinewood had several chances following, with a missed layup and a three-point attempt with 19 seconds left not falling.
“We never hit the bucket to get up,” Scheppler said. “We had five or six looks, fourth quarter down two.”
Priory beat Pinewood in January on last-second free throws and had momentum in Friday’s game early, jumping out to a 22-13 lead in the second quarter. However, Pinewood made back-to-back three pointers from Sophia Bowles and Anushka Krishnan to keep it within striking distance at 25-19 at halftime. Priory again went on a run in the third quarter to make it 32-23 with 1:31 left, prompting Pinewood to respond and go on a 7-0 run to close out the third quarter. The teams traded buckets in the fourth quarter, with the closest Pinewood getting to Priory being 38-37 with approximately four minutes remaining.
Yew led all Pinewood scorers with 10 points, with Caitlyn Kramer adding eight.
While a league title looks unlikely now for Pinewood with Priory (16-5) undefeated in league play at 7-0 and having a two-game league advantage with three games remaining, Pinewood (18-3) is still likely to make the Central Coast Section Open Division.
