Elle Ladine seemed to give everything she had, which was a lot, but it wasn’t enough to save the Pinewood School girls basketball team’s season Wednesday night (March 2).
Despite the senior’s game-high 31 points, the fourth-seeded Panthers fell 51-48 to No. 5 Oak Ridge of El Dorado Hills in the Northern California Open Division quarterfinals.
Moments after declaring Ladine “the best player ever to play at Pinewood,” coach Doc Scheppler praised the University of Washington commit for nearly carrying the team to a win.
“We can only ask her to do everything, and we did,” he said.
Along with shooting 50% from the field – including 5-from-8 on 3s – and making all four of her free throws, Ladine pulled down 13 rebounds and guarded Oak Ridge’s best player.
“Oh, yeah, it was definitely tiring,” said Ladine, who played all 32 minutes and was diving for loose balls until the very end. “Especially denying one of the best players in the state; she’s a great athlete.”
That would be Teagan Brown, who finished with 19 points after a slow start. The senior missed all five of her shots in the first quarter with a fresh Ladine hounding her.
The host Panthers (22-3 overall) led 13-3 at quarter’s end, with Ladine scoring every one of their points. She buried five consecutive shots, including three 3-pointers in a row.
Brown nearly matched that output in the second quarter, making a trio of 3s and a free throw to help the Trojans (25-5) cut the deficit to 26-19 at halftime.
With her teammates still struggling to make shots in the third quarter, Ladine tried to keep pace with an Oak Ridge offense that was just picking up steam. She scored Pinewood’s first six points, all on drives, but the Trojans put up 18 in those first five minutes of the period to pull ahead. Emily Lee answered with a 3 for the Panthers and Jade Ramirez added a free throw with 23 seconds left, narrowing Oak Ridge’s advantage to 37-36 going into the fourth.
Pinewood never regained the lead.
“The game was lost in the third quarter,” Scheppler said. “… a couple bad possessions, a couple turnovers and then it’s a dogfight.”
The coach credited the Trojans’ tenacious defense for turning the tide. Oak Ridge played zone, a scheme Scheppler said only one other team dared to use against Pinewood all season because of the Panthers’ shooting prowess.
“It was difficult to play against when (they) have that length advantage and we have players that are a little bit small,” the coach said. “… How many teams can hold us under 50? It’s rare.”
No team this season had held Pinewood under 50; the Panthers came into the contest averaging 68 points per game.
But on this night, Ladine was the lone Panther to make shots consistently. She finished 11-of-22 from the field; the rest of the team went 6-for-33.
“I know our shots weren’t falling, but we always say, ‘Next one’s in,’ so that was our mindset throughout the game,” Ladine said.
Pinewood drained its first shot of the fourth – a 3 by Lee that again cut the Trojans’ to lead to 1 – but missed its next seven. Ladine made her four free throws in that stretch, however, keeping the Panthers close. Oak Ridge then went on a 5-0 run, thanks to a 3 and a pair of free throws from Sofia Williams, to go up 49-43 with 57 seconds to play.
Skylar Chui countered for Pinewood, scoring on a putback, but time was slipping away. The Panthers fouled Brooke Williams to stop the clock, and she knocked down both free throws to put the Trojans ahead 51-45 with 33 ticks left.
Fittingly, Ladine made Pinewood’s final basket – a deep 3 with 8.5 seconds remaining that cut the deficit to three. After Brown missed a pair of free throws, the Panthers got up one more shot: a hurried 3-point try by Gabby Harris that bounced off the rim at the buzzer.
The loss marked Pinewood’s earliest exit from the NorCal playoffs since 2015, when the squad fell in double overtime at Miramonte.
Los Altos, St. Francis also exit playoffs
The Los Altos and St. Francis girls were eliminated from NorCal in the opening round as well.
Los Altos, the 14th seed in Division IV, fell 52-37 at No. 3 Branson of Ross March 1. Up 11-8 after the first quarter, the Eagles were outscored 17-3 in the second and never recovered.
Tara Davari totaled 10 points to pace Los Altos (17-10) and Abby Lu added eight.
St. Francis, seeded ninth in Division I, lost 62-60 at No. 8 Laguna Creek of Elk Grove March 1. Sydney Steward scored a season-high 30 points for the Lancers (17-9), whose late rally came up just short. Jess Oakland chipped in 18 points.
